Undisclosed Operations: Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai
by Fenris1872
Summary: Discontinued from my other profile
1. Chapter 1

Deep within the village of Konohagakure no Sato, an old man sat behind a large desk. He was wearing a long red and white robe with a triangular hat with the kanji for fire decorating it. His name was Sarutobi Hiruzen, a man hailed as the 'shinobi no kami' and the Sandaime Hokage and right now, he was currently stuck deep in thought as his old teammates and now trusted advisors stood across the desk from him.

Their names were Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, also known by many as the Konoha council. Their purpose was to advise the Hokage on any matters related to the village, though they possessed no real political power. The point that made the aged leader wary of them was that they tended to take the side of his militaristic rival, Shimura Danzō, regularly lacking the faith that the current leader had in people.

Homura was an old man with spiky grey hair and a thick beard that only covered his jaw line while a pair of green rimmed glasses took pride of place on the bridge of his nose. He wore a green robe with a lightly tanned jacket covering it further while a large, light grey shawl kept his neck from view.

Koharu on the other hand was an equally old woman with grey hair tied into a bun with a large hairpin with pearls located on the blunt end while a pair of tassels were attached to the sharp end. Her eyes were barely open, showing little more than slits to anyone that would look at her. Dangling from her ears were a pair of earrings made from several green and red pearls strung together. She wore a similar ensemble to Homura, though her robe was a light grey while her jacket was a significantly darker shade of the same colour and instead of a shawl she wore a sash of the same shade as Homura's shawl.

The Hokage had a good idea what the duo were there to talk about, just yesterday the Hokage's residence had been infiltrated and an important scroll had been stolen by a child that had failed the ninja graduation exam no less. The boy had eventually been caught by his teacher, only for the duo to realise the so called failure had simply been tricked into stealing the scroll, having been convinced by his teachers assistant that it was a makeup exam and that any scroll that was genuinely forbidden wouldn't be labelled as such.

The night had almost taken a disastrous turn when the real traitor had told the boy a piece of information that had been kept from him specifically, it was only because of the teachers actions and words that stopped the night being a true disaster.

Of course the fact that the child was literally the prison for a beast of immense destructive power known as the Kyūbi no Kitsune made things slightly awkward, mainly because his advisors considered the boy a potential weapon for Konoha to use and his every move was criticized, meaning this course of action he had gone on would bring some concerns to the front of their minds.

"Homura, Koharu, how may I help you this fine day?" the aged leader asked as he brought out his favourite pipe and poured some tobacco into it.

"We would like to confirm a few details about yesterday's events," the spiky haired old man stated seriously as the other man light his pipe with a small match.

"And what would you like confirmed?" the Hokage asked seriously as he began to rest his chin in his fingers.

"Is it correct that Uzumaki Naruto broke into the Hokage's tower without setting off any alerts, avoiding the sensor ninja and ANBU patrols that we approved of before breaking into your vault and stealing the forbidden scroll?" Koharu asked him calmly, her face set in its usual stony frown.

"That is correct," Sarutobi stated, forcing himself to not swallow the saliva that was building up lest it give the duo any ammunition for them to use against him in this scenario.

"So this boy managed to sneak past security that most Jōnin would fail to deal with, all the while wearing a bright orange jumpsuit?" Homura asked with his trademark frown decorating his face, earning a nod of confirmation while the Hokage took another puff of his pipe.

"That is all we wish to confirm about last night, however we would like to know what your plans for this boy are," the old woman said with an air of authority despite not having any over the villages leader.

"He proved last night that his loyalty is not in question and Iruka repealed his decision to fail him as the only portion he failed on had improved to a level sufficient to pass," the old man stated, earning a couple of nods from his old teammates, "because of this I am assigning him to a genin team alongside the rest of his class."

"Are you certain that doing so is a good idea?" the bespectacled man asked calmly, causing the aged leader to frown at the question, surely they didn't have a problem with making the boy a ninja, they had been gunning for that to happen for years now, why would they suddenly change their minds?

"Do you have a problem with my decision? I thought you two wanted him to be made a ninja?" the aged leader asked the pair with a small frown.

"That is correct, however our problem is not your decision to make him a ninja, it is your decision to place him on a genin team," the bearded man stated calmly, not letting is emotions play out on his features as he looked at his old friend.

"What would you suggest then? Surely you of all people know the value of teamwork in a ninja cell," the robed figure asked with a hint of confusion.

"Yes, teamwork is important, however we believe the correct place for a ninja with the stealth skills to infiltrate the Hokage's vault is not in the regular forces," Koharu explained to the aged leader, causing his eyes to widen.

"You can't possibly mean?!" Hiruzen started, only to receive a pair of nods from his old friends as his mind raced over what he should do.

XXX XXX XXX

Uzumaki Naruto however was completely oblivious of the conversation concerning him right now, then again he was more concerned about how his day had been.

He had finally received his hitae-ate last night and was now a ninja just like he had always wanted to be.

Today had started off rather crappy though, he was supposed to have his photo taken for his ninja licence but when he handed it in to the Hokage he had been told to take it again and why? Because it was too artistic for the old man's tastes that's why.

However after that his day managed to pick up, mainly by meeting the Hokage's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru. The child immediately took a liking to him based off the simple fact he hit the boy after finding out who he was.

The child had managed to brighten up his day, even going so far as to learn his signature jutsu, the Oiroke no jutsu, a technique that had proven to be the undoing of perverts everywhere, including the Hokage the previous night, though he had to improve on the technique in order to take out the child's prejudiced sensei.

Still, the child made him feel better by actually acknowledging him as something other than 'the demon brat' or 'the deadlast idiot' that most of the village saw him as and in return he acknowledged the boy as Konohamaru instead of 'the honourable grandson'… he had even managed to give the child some genuinely good advice as well.

That last part was probably the part he was proudest about, he had actually managed to give someone proper advice instead of simply getting in their way or teaching them something perverted, if he was honest with himself he could hardly believe he had actually been cool enough to say what he did.

Sure he liked to believe he was cool but deep within his mind he knew it wasn't true, that was one of the reasons Sakura didn't like him. It actually made him feel slightly depressed that he knew next to nothing about how to act cool but was able to manage it when he wasn't trying.

The important part though was that he was finally a ninja, that immediately added coolness to him simply by having the hitae-ate proudly displayed on his forehead.

Those were his thoughts as he scoffed down his fifteenth bowl of ramen with an insatiable vigour that he always possessed when eating the 'heavenly noodles' as he liked to called them.

"So how does it feel to finally be a ninja?" the owner of the ramen stand, a man in his forties called Teuchi. He was wearing a standard chefs outfit consisting of white clothes covered by a white apron and a small, white had that kept his hair from going anywhere near the food.

"It's awesome! I've got my hitae-ate and now everywhere I go people know I'm a ninja!" the young blond almost shouted in joy, obviously overjoyed at the fact he would no longer have to act out just to get attention.

"Ha ha, just remember that being a ninja is hard work, you'd better not slack off or you'll never get anywhere in your career," the ramen chef reminded the boy jovially, earning a sharp nod off the young boy as he set his face in a serious expression before proceeding to devour the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Excuse me Uzumaki Naruto?" came an unfamiliar call to the blond, causing him to turn his head to the stranger, only for his eyes to widen slightly at the sight of a ninja dressed in black shinobi pants, a black sleeveless shirt covered by grey armour, while his shins and forearms were protected by armour of the same colour. On his back was a katana tilted to provide easy access from the right shoulder.

Despite all that it was the man's face that stood out, or rather the porcelain mask with a crow design that hid his face and denoted his status as a member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, or as they were regularly called, ANBU, the villages elite force that took orders from the Hokage himself and no one else.

"Uh, yeah, what do you want?" the boy finally responded, earning a moments silence from the ANBU as they wondered if the child realised who he was talking to.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence in his office immediately," the crow masked ANBU stated after deciding to just ignore the child's lack of respect and complete his order to retrieve the boy.

Almost immediately Naruto went from a curious expression to a dread filled stare. The Hokage had told him that he would be assigned to his genin team tomorrow and that he wouldn't receive missions until then, combined with the fact he had already given the man his account of the previous night and it meant only one thing to the blond, the old man had probably decided to repeal the decision to make him a ninja.

"Well go on, you're a ninja now so don't keep Hokage-sama waiting," the middle aged man said with a laugh before noticing the boy's expression and suddenly wondering what was happening to make him look so scared.

"Come on, Hokage-sama wants to see you now," the elite ninja stated seriously before placing a hand on the child's shoulder and vanishing in a swirl of leaves that represented the standard Konoha Shunshin.

"I guess he can pay his bill the next time he comes in," Teuchi muttered to himself before proceeding to remove the empty bowls of ramen on the counter and preparing the stall for any other customers that might show up.

XXX XXX XXX

The Sandaime Hokage sat behind his desk, his two advisors standing either side of him anxiously waiting for the arrival of the spiky haired blond, going over how he would explain the situation to the boy.

The only evidence that he was even slightly nervous was that he puffing his pipe slightly harder than normal, though only enough for the most observant of individuals to notice.

He was cut from his musings by a swirl of leaves indicating that the ANBU he had sent to retrieve the boy had returned with the young jinchūriki.

Taking several deep breaths the old man decided to start by explaining why he was there.

"Hello Naruto-kun, I believe you haven't met Homura and Koharu yet," the fire shadow stated kindly, pointing out the duo standing to his sides in the process, "they were once my teammates but now they act as my advisors in important matters."

Not a sound came from the blonds throat telling the old man that the boy had probably come to an incorrect conclusion concerning his reason for standing before him right now.

"Now my advisors know about what happened last night and came to me with a suggestion I believe has some merit," the aged leader started, noticing how the blond was beginning to tear up as he continued his statement.

Naruto himself couldn't believe it, he had literally been a ninja for less than a day and because of these advisors he would be losing his licence already… it just didn't seem fair to him.

"They suggested that instead of letting you graduate with your class and join a genin team," Sarutobi noticed the tears starting to stream from the boys eyes, knowing that what he was about to say would stop them straight away, "you are immediately inducted into ANBU."

Just as he predicted the tears stopped as Naruto's head shot up to look him in the eyes. He didn't blame the boy, he was officially the dead last of the academy and had barely passed courtesy of a traitor and a jutsu that needed absolutely no chakra control at all to use, so to hear that he was being considered for a position in ANBU would probably be one of the biggest shocks of his life.

"W-wha?" the young blond started, unable to form a coherent sentence as his brain tried to comprehend exactly what was happening right now.

"You have displayed an immense talent in the art of infiltration, most Jōnin are incapable of breaking into the Hokage residence without being detected until it was too late," Homura stated seriously, his expression betraying nothing concerning his thoughts on the subject, "combine that with some of the pranks you have pulled off over the years and I think it is safe to say that your skill in avoiding detection is great enough to earn you a position within ANBU."

Hearing the more experienced ninja's words Naruto found it hard to process that they were offering him a place within the village's elite simply because he was good at not being found. The only person that had ever found him was Iruka-sensei but even then it was purely because he let the man find him as opposed to the Chūnin's skill.

"But aren't ANBU supposed to be really strong? Even if I'm good at hiding I don't think I'm good enough to beat a proper ANBU in a fight," the whiskered child admitted while looking at the floor. Sure he may have beaten Mizuki but that was a combination of shock and sheer numbers as opposed to skill.

"Combat efficiency is only a minor aspect of gaining a position within ANBU, as long as you possess at least one skill that could benefit Konoha when put to use then you will be considered for entry," the old woman of the group informed the boy with about as much emotion as the other retired ninja, "if you accept the offer then you will be placed into the initiate program and will be taught everything you need to know for the position."

"Before you make your decision I believe I should inform you of some other pieces of information," Sarutobi started before the boy could start thinking too much, "the first thing you should be aware of is that if you do decide to accept the invitation you will be sworn to never reveal your identity as a member of ANBU."

Upon hearing that piece of information the blond jerked his head up to look at the aged leader, seeing nothing but seriousness in his eyes. Gone was the kind old man he had grown up knowing and in his place was the sandaime Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure no sato, a man that would do whatever was necessary to protect his village. It wasn't as though seeing this side of the man was unheard of for him, he had witnessed the man talking to ninja about serious business when he was younger but he had never seen the look directed towards him.

"And before you think about joining just to get the training before leaving, if you do accept the position you will be signed up for a compulsory term of three years, meaning you will have to stay in ANBU for three years after finishing your induction training. Do you understand?" once again the seriousness of the Hokage made the blond grow nervous. This was a chance that several of his classmates would kill for… the problem however was his goal.

He wanted recognition for being a great ninja, he wanted acceptance but if he joined ANBU he would have to work in the shadows, he would have to try and trick his friends into thinking he had failed and given up on being a ninja until he finally left the dark side of the village. But then he was being offered something that would make everyone accept his skills when he finally left and not only that, he would receive special training upon joining, training that would probably help him in the long run.

"I do not expect you to decide just yet Naruto-kun, however I want your answer by eight o'clock tonight and you are not allowed to tell anyone of this offer, do you understand?" Hiruzen knew he was putting some serious pressure on the boy by giving him less than three hours to decide on his immediate future, however if the boy decided he wanted to join the village elites, alterations would need to be made to the not quite graduated children's teams.

"Thank you jiji," Naruto said quietly, earning another statement from the old man.

"And if you accept our offer, you must refer to the Hokage as Hokage-sama, no matter who it is or how much you like them, do you understand Naruto-kun?" the simple fact that the aged leader told the blond that he must refer to the Hokage with respect brought a slightly nervous thought to the front of the blonds mind.

"Why are you talking like you'll be replaced?" the question was asked with a slight trace of anger and the old man knew why. Despite the boy's constant yells of how he would become Hokage, he was actually happy with the current one, the idea of a new Hokage being named might've come as a shock to him.

"Naruto, I might be the strongest ninja in Konoha right now however I am old, there is no guarantee I'll still be alive within three years. If I do die then as a member of ANBU you will have to obey the new Hokage without question, do you understand?" the explanation was one that resounded through the blonds mind, despite all his strength and skill, the man once hailed as the 'shinobi no kami' couldn't fight time.

"Yeah… I'll see ya later jiji," the spiky haired child said with a downbeat expression as his mind raced over what he had learned over the past ten minutes.

"Goodbye Naruto-kun, and remember I want your answer by eight o'clock, if not I will take it as a no and will place you in a team to take the genin exam," instantly the azure eyed former academy student turned on his heel to face the old man, seeing a knowing smirk on the man's lips before asking his question.

"What do you mean take the genin exam?! I've already passed the graduation exam haven't I?" the sheer fact the child was shouting at the Hokage earned a pair of small glares from his advisors, though they did nothing given their former teammates lack of concern over it.

"You completed the academy exam to see if you have the skills to become a genin, however it is up to the Jōnin instructor whether you are worthy of being a genin or not, now go, I have other important business I must attend to. Just remember to think over what you want before making your decision," and with that said, the aged leader motioned for the young boy to leave his office, leaving the young blond in a state of confusion as his mind tried to make sense of everything he had just been told.

XXX XXX XXX

Shimura Danzō was an old man, a few years older than Sarutobi Hiruzen, a man he once considered his rival before the sandaime was declared. He wore a rather plain kimono with bandages covering his right eye and his right arm constantly held in a sling.

He had just received information concerning a specific meeting that had occurred within the Hokages office and he was not happy with the situation one bit. If it had been any other ninja he would have agreed with the rest of his generations judgement, however the person they had just invited to join ANBU was the Kyūbi jinchūriki.

He was well aware of the boys stealth skills, having paid close attention to the boys pranks made that obvious. The problem was that ANBU were assassins by nature, they had no place on an open battlefield… and it was on an open battlefield that jinchūriki were their most dangerous. In times of war it was a simple process to simply send a jinchūriki up against an entire battalion with nothing more than a seal expert to suppress them when they had finished crushing the enemy, doing so could save hundreds of Konoha ninja, allowing them to win the war with less damage and giving the other countries a deterrent from launching a follow up attack when the war was over.

So hearing that the current jinchūriki might be inducted into ANBU made him concerned. He wouldn't deny that the boy would probably make quite a good assassin however he should be trained to harness the Kyūbi's chakra or use area destruction jutsu, not precision strikes designed to kill one person quickly and quietly.

Unfortunately Koharu and Homura believed it would be beneficial to place the boy in ANBU and Hiruzen had agreed that the boy would do well there, it was for this reason all he could do would be to try to deter the boy from accepting the invitation.

"Sai," came his quiet call. Almost instantly a young boy wearing an animal mask and a black cloak appeared before the old ninja, "find Uzumaki Naruto and convince him to turn down the Hokages offer."

"Hai Danzō-sama," and without another sound, the stranger vanished in a swirl of leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Uzumaki Naruto's head was spinning as he walked along Konoha's main road. He had less than three hours to make one simple decision that would put his life on one of two completely different directions. On one hand he could turn down the offer and be placed on a team with the rest of his class to be tested over his worthiness of being a genin. On the other hand he could gain a definite place within the shinobi forces, however he would have to remain a shadow for at least three years. Not only that but he wouldn't be allowed to tell any of his friends about it because of the nature of his job.

He wanted to become a member of the regular forces where his skills could be recognised as being his, however there was a good chance that he might fail the true graduation exam and lose his hitae-ate, making him a civilian once again.

However if he was to join ANBU he would be guaranteed his place and would also have three years of missions as well as a chance to develop his skills to an awe inspiring level before joining the regular forces, giving him a better chance of getting recognition and eventually being named Hokage.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" an unfamiliar voice cut him out of his musings and caused him to turn and look at the person who had called out his name in a questioning manner.

The culprit was a young boy around the same age as himself, possessing sickly pale skin and short dark hair that simply fell around his skull. He was wearing a simple set of grey pants and a brown jacket, causing him to simply blend into the crowd as nothing more than a civilian. However that did not give Naruto any ease of mind, the boys eyes more than made it obvious he wasn't just a normal passerby. The strange boy completely lacked any warmth in his eyes but at the same time there was no coldness either, there was simply nothing, it was as though the boy had no emotions to speak of and it genuinely unnerved the blond.

"Y-yeah?" he finally answered, he didn't know if he was doing the right thing by admitting to the stranger that he had found the right person but something about the young teen made him feel that even if he had lied the strange being in front of him would have seen through him like a plane of glass.

"Come with me," upon hearing the request the blond felt a cold chill run down his spine at the tone used, one that had a surface of warmth but was completely empty of emotions underneath the obviously faked warmth.

Naruto watched as the boy started walking towards a less populated area of the village, following him cautiously and ready to run or fight if this stranger tried anything, since he was only the same age as him there shouldn't be a problem with either of those options.

The duo walked for several minutes before coming across familiar scenery, the same park he had started teaching Konohamaru the Oiroke no jutsu. This caught the whiskered child off guard, fortunately for him the stranger simply proceeded to sit on the very log he and Konohamaru had spoken to each other on earlier that very day.

"Do you want to sit or are you happy standing?" the dark haired stranger asked him earning a few blinks of surprise from the blond as he tried to process the situation he was currently in.

"I'll stand," came the response as he slowly began to relax a little now that the stranger was seated and he was standing far enough away to respond to anything the other boy might try.

Upon hearing the blonds statement the plainly clothed individual let out a simple of nod of confirmation before he opened his mouth, ready to try to complete his mission.

"Did you know that there are actually three people outside of the Hokage that are privy to the identities of ANBU operatives?" the strange boy asked, causing the blond to stiffen considerably, "my grandfather is one of those people."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Naruto asked, as his heart began to pound at the idea that this stranger might know of the offer he had been given by the Hokage less than half an hour ago.

"My grandfather believes that your presence would be better served in the regular forces, with both your burden and heritage you possess an immense chakra capacity and could easily throw around area destruction techniques and save many lives in the next war," the strange teen stated with a fake smile plastering his face.

Now Naruto knew that there was something wrong, this boy about the same age as him knew of his burden, something that was forbidden by the Hokage himself, plus the boys statement of his heritage also intrigued him, despite his curiosity he had never been told anything more than the fact his parents were ninja that died during the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha the day of his birth. However this boy apparently knew about his heritage, meaning there was someone feeding him information that shouldn't be given to him in the first place.

"How do you know about my burden and what do you mean by my heritage?" the blond demanded as his body tensed and he assumed a rather sloppy taijutsu stance, only for the stranger to hold his hand out in a placating manner.

"There are plenty of clues that any perceptive person can pick up on that give away your burden, as for your heritage, you are an Uzumaki are you not?" the boy who had not yet given his name said with his strangely empty tone, earning a series of blinks off of Naruto as he processed the words.

"I don't know… Ji- I mean Hokage-sama has only told me that my parents were ninja," the whiskered child finally stated after several seconds of contemplation.

"The Uzumaki clan was well known for having naturally massive chakra reserves and for living to ridiculously old ages," the civilian dressed boy said calmly, earning a slight widening of the blonds eyes, "after hearing about your ability to create hundreds of Kage Bunshin without breaking a sweat, I am inclined to believe that you are indeed a true Uzumaki."

Hearing this suddenly made the blond feel strange, he now had someone that believed he was actually the last member of a clan as opposed to a mere orphan, if it was true then he might be capable of discovering the identity of his parents with enough research. His mind stalled at that last thought… since when had he ever even considered looking at books let alone want to? This resulted in a conflict, which did he want to do more? Avoid books or learn his parents identities?

"I apologise if I have caused you any trouble, however as I explained earlier my grandfather is rather anxious to have you join the regular forces, with the correct tuition you could possibly become a shinobi on par with Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama themselves," the stranger told him with his usual blank tone, "however if you enter ANBU you will be restricted to improving far fewer skills than you could in the regular forces and run the risk of becoming overspecialised."

That statement did little to ease the blonds concerns, the mere idea that he could potentially grow to be as strong as the man known as the strongest Hokage and his rival was ridiculous but at the same time it made him wonder, did this boy really think 'he' could become that strong? Or was the stranger talking about what 'could' happen if he started harnessing the Kyūbi's power?

It was no mystery how powerful the bijū was, possessing the raw power to tear through practically anything excluding the Shodaime himself and that person was known as being closer to a god than a man. Thinking about it he couldn't help but begin to doubt the boy he was currently speaking to as his mind began to think over everything the boy had told him so far and the results caused his eyes to narrow.

"You just want me to use the Kyūbi don't you," the edge on his voice made it clear that it wasn't a question but a conclusion and Sai couldn't help himself from carefully thinking how to address this issue, the jinchūriki seemed to suddenly grow more aggressive, as though he had something against the idea of using every tool at his disposal.

"I don't see why you are growing so aggressive over the idea of using every tool at your disposal," it was a carefully constructed criticism, said in such a way that the blond would rethink his current train of thought concerning the beast sealed within him, however he did not know the blond well enough to expect the response he would receive.

"Tool? Screw you, even though it might have attacked Konoha, even though it is supposed to be a mass of pure hatred, it is still a living being, it still has its own thoughts and feelings and that means it is not just some weapon for some bastard to use!" the anger contained within the spiky haired blonds voice made one thing clear, the emotionally stunted individual had made a serious mistake and was probably going to pay for it, "go back to your grandfather and tell him this, screw you, if you think I'll just be a way for you to control the fox then you've got another thing coming!"

Without so much as another word the blue eyed teen started storming away from the dark haired boy who could only think one thing 'Danzō-sama is not going to be happy with this result'.

XXX XXX XXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but think over his decision to accept Koharu and Homura's proposal, was it really the right thing to do to place such a young child in an organisation like ANBU? The only other person accepted into the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai at such a young age was Uchiha Itachi and he had already witnessed the horrors of war and been rendered a pacifist, however Naruto was still a child blinded by the illusions of the world, would he really be alright if placed in such a dark and secretive organisation?

Of course, if such an event was to occur there would have to be some precautions taken just like with every other ANBU when working within the village, the mask, cloak and odour killers were standard practice after all the mask and cloak were a Konoha secret designed to block the penetrating capabilities of the Byakugan and hide the wearers chakra from sensors and the Aburame's bugs, while the odour killers were proficient enough to neutralise scent from even an Inuzuka's nose. It was this combined with the ANBU's hoods covering their hair that rendered the ninja's true shadows within the walls. Unfortunately the cloak's material was too thick to use in regular clothing and the possibility of being captured by the enemy made taking the cloaks out of the village a possible security issue.

Of course no ANBU should ever be captured, as it is standard procedure to use a technique specially designed to destroy the users body should they ever be close to death or capture. It was also one of the reasons the aged leader did not enjoy the idea of making the boy a member of the force, the mere thought that the child may have to practically erase himself from existence was painful and made his guilt over the situation rise once again, he knew that if the boy accepted the offer, he would never be the same innocent child he was now.

Suddenly he was snapped out of his musings as a knock on his door indicated that either he was about to receive more paperwork, or someone was here to see him.

"Enter," the aged leader said in the tone he used for all official business, causing the door to widen before a face he never thought he would see come in after knocking on the door, "Naruto? It isn't like you to knock before entering," he said with a raised eyebrow as he prepared himself for the boy to be a fake.

"Yeah, well if I'm going to be an ANBU then I'm going to have to start acting like a normal person aren't I ji- I mean Hokage-sama?" the blond started with a grin before starting to blush at his near slip up.

"So you've decided to join then…" the determined nod he received from the spiky haired blond almost made him feel as if he was even older than he really was, this innocent child was literally giving himself to the dark side of Konoha, sacrificing his innocence to ensure the stability of the tree, "very well, tomorrow morning go to this address and when asked what you're doing there say 'I am a root that supports the tree', they'll take it from there."

"Alright Hokage-sama, I promise I'll do you proud," the whiskered child said with a thumbs up before taking a small slip of paper from the aged leader, "so I'm to say 'I am a root that supports the tree' right?"

"That's right, don't forget it, that's the most important part of what you've learned today," the old man said with a warm smile as he remembered how bad the boys memory was for things like that, "and remember this as well, no matter how much you want to, you must not tell any of your friends about your place within ANBU, that is an order from your Hokage to you, do you understand?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, as far as everyone else is to know I failed the graduation exam and gave up trying to become a ninja," the determination in the blonds eyes was enough to make the older man finally accept that perhaps the boy wouldn't have such a hard time adjusting to life within ANBU… however that didn't stop him from feeling guilt over the 'training' the boy would have to endure for the next six months.

"Alright, go home and get some rest, tomorrow will be a long and hard day for you… I will see you in six months and for what it's worth… I'm sorry," the statement made the blond give a small cross between a grin and a smile before he opened his mouth and said something that put the old man at ease.

"Don't be, it was my decision and I'll take anything they throw at me, this is my way proving to myself that I can be something without having to rely on the Kyūbi, I swear I won't give up, I will take anything they can throw at me and I'll show you that you made the right choice to give me this chance," and with that said, the blond left the office, causing the Hokage to let out a sad smile upon realising exactly why the blond accepted the position before he started working on his stack of paperwork once again.

XXX XXX XXX

Danzō wouldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed. From what he had heard from Sai the Kyūbi's host seemed completely against the idea of using its chakra, however that part of the report was also the piece of information that made him feel slightly less uneasy about what the outcome would be. If the boy had not been so offended by the idea of using the beast in his gut then the idea of the boy joining ANBU would've been a major waste of power, however as it stood it would make significantly less difference if he entered the darkness or stayed in the light.

"That is all for now Sai, return to your post and await further instructions," the bandaged man said in a calm monotone, earning a nod of acceptance from the young boy who immediately leapt into the shadows and out of sight as he donned his usual mask and cloak, ready to be called into action at a moments' notice.

It was a surprise for the young ninja as he was simply allowed to go back to duty instead of receiving punishment for the failure of his mission, of course he wasn't complaining about that fact, merely surprised. It was unfortunate for him that he lacked the knowledge of emotions required to deduce the reasoning behind his lack of punishment.

Danzō however couldn't stop himself from pondering what the fate of the jinchūriki would be, he knew that if he had been Hokage instead of Sarutobi the boy would've been raised almost exclusively to learn how to harness the power sealed within him, however that was not the case, instead the boy was raised as a normal child with the teachings of the will of fire pummelled into his head until a righteous and stubborn will had become a part of him.

It did cause him some slight concern however, the simple fact that the boy had taken so much offense towards his pawn calling the bijū a tool meant that the boy was still being blinded by the light… perhaps in the darkness he will learn to see and understand the world he lives in.

Time is not an issue for the greatest village on the continent.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from releasing a sigh of relief as he entered his apartment, he honestly couldn't believe just how tiring his day had been, who knew that simply having to think could be so tiring?

So here he was, preparing himself mentally, wondering what sort of training he would be forced to endure the next day, knowing how the ANBU were considered the best of the best made him slightly nervous however he was certain that the old man wouldn't have offered him the position if he didn't think he could handle it.

Thinking about it he couldn't help but let out an excited shiver at the prospect of special training that the rest of his year would have to wait years before getting… that is if they ever got it in the first place. If only he could tell them.

Realising that no matter how much he wanted to let them know how awesome he was, he wouldn't be allowed to because of the very nature of his new position. It made a glob of bile appear in his throat when the reality sunk in, everyone would think he was just an academy dropout, a civilian that couldn't even make it to genin despite attending the academy for several years. The only people that would know his true status were the Hokage, his advisors and the other ANBU operatives.

Almost immediately he let out a shiver of nervousness as he realised that he wouldn't be around others his own age but adults that spent several years if not decades in the regular forces before earning their right to join, it was something he realised would probably cause him problems with the rest of his new colleagues with his only hope being to prove to them that he was worth his place in the organisation.

The real question was how much he would have to tear his body apart in training to earn their acceptance, or would they simply shun him for being different like everyone else did? At least in the academy he knew the people that shunned him and could at least get their attention for long enough to prove his existence but would he be able to in a group of professionals like ANBU?

"How badly have I screwed up Gama-chan?" the blond asked his frog wallet with downcast eyes, hoping for some sort of sign that he hadn't made the worst mistake of his life, "why did I have to get all worked up by that Sai asshole? Dammit, it's too late to change my mind… I already gave jiji my word that I'd take whatever they throw at me… dammit, what sort of idiot am I?"

It certainly was not a normal scenario for the blond, to go to bed with his hands clutching his face without having any supper but for the first time in his life the blond had something more important than that on his mind… what the future had in store for him.


	3. Chapter 3

The time had finally come. His heart was beating faster than it had ever done before, even Mizuki's betrayal seemed like a stroll in the park compared to the nervousness he felt right now.

He was currently standing outside of what looked like a small second hand junk shop, however he now knew the reality of the establishment. It was the entrance to ANBU HQ, it was quite possibly the second most well guarded location in Konoha, as well as the most hidden.

Taking a deep breath he proceeded to open the door and look around while reciting the passphrase he had been given by the Hokage the previous day. He scanned the small store with uncertain eyes as he tried to find the person he was supposed to speak to in order to gain access.

It didn't take him long to find a young woman with shoulder length brown hair, dark green eyes and a cheerful expression adorning her face while a regular set of civilian clothes kept her body covered. Looking at the girl he began to doubt the address he had gone to.

"Good morning, do you need any help?" the bright girl said with a sparkle in her eyes as she looked at him, if it wasn't for his sense of paranoia he would've never noticed her eyes scanning every inch of him like a predator stares at its prey, looking for any weakness.

Hearing the girls question he decided that he might have been over thinking things and after making sure no-one else was in the store, decided to just do as he had been told the day before.

"I am a root that supports the tree," the effect was immediate, the warm and cheery woman suddenly changed to a cold a calm visage, the sheer speed of the change almost made him take a step back in surprise, however he managed to keep himself under enough control to prevent himself from doing so.

"So you're the new guy, follow me Uzumaki Naruto," the green eyed woman ordered him in a strange tone, it held no warmth nor scorn, it almost seemed like she simply didn't care about him one way or the other.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts the blond proceeded to follow her into the back where she proceeded to stop in front of a large safe before looking at him.

"How good are you at remembering numbers?" the question was simple and contained nothing that gave the young blond any indication of what she thought of him.

"Uh… how big is the number we're talking about here?" he asked her nervously, earning a blank stare as she told him straight.

"Seven digits long," the look of horror on the boys face amused her enough for a small smile to show on her face, "the number is one, one, nine, six, seven, five, seven, say that now."

"W-what? Uh… one, seven," he started only to be cut off by the woman.

"Wrong, it is one one nine six seven five seven, now start again," she ordered him, earning another look of horror from the boy.

XXX XXX XXX

He was certain he had been at it for over half an hour but the brunette kept making him say it until he got it right and when he finally got it right she forced him to say it twenty times in a row without mistakes before making him input the code into the locking mechanism. The worst part however was when she told him that she would tell all the others that could guard the entrance to make him repeat the code twenty times in a row.

She said it was to make sure he would remember the code, he just thought she wanted to torture him.

Once the vault had finally been opened, his eyes immediately widened at the sight before him, a large set of curved stairs leading underground and most probably to the headquarters of the very organisation he had literally just joined.

"Go on, I can't go any further in until the end of the working day," the brunette said calmly earning a confused stare from the blond.

"Huh? Wait, does that mean?" the whiskered blond started only to get cut off.

"Don't finish that sentence, but yes, I am, now go before I kick you down there," the older of the two said seriously before the blond proceeded to make his way down the staircase, looking back upon hearing the safe close behind him before carrying on, unsure of what he would find.

Upon finally reaching his destination, he couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle as he saw the area was a dimly lit corridor with a single, large set of ominous double doors taking centre stage at the end of it.

Gathering his courage the blond proceeded to force himself into his most determined state, the one he adopted whenever he was trying to get acknowledgement for something good instead of through making a fool of himself. Taking several steps forward he slowly closed the gap between himself and the doors that separated him from the elite of the village before he finally got within reaching distance of them.

Placing his hands on the metal plaques that indicated the doors didn't have a lock, the whiskered child steadied his breathing before snapping his eyes open and pushing the doors open, ready to come face to face with the best Konoha had to offer.

The sight that greeted him was not what he was expecting. Instead of the strict militaristic group he had expected, he was instead met with a couple of glances from several people he had never seen in the village before, each one appearing to simply be relaxing as opposed to anything more.

There was a young woman with long purple hair sitting at a small table with a small saucer of clear liquid in front of her, something he assumed was sake due to the presence of what looked like a self service bar near the table. She was dressed in the standard armour that he saw most ANBU wear and the tattoo on her right shoulder that also indicated that she was in fact a member of the secretive organisation.

Looking to the other side of the room his eyes focused upon a man with what looked to be pure white eyes, something he immediately associated with a girl he had seen in his class, he took several seconds to try and remember the name, eventually settling on Hyūga Hinata when it rang a bell in his mind. The man possessed long, dark brown hair that almost reached his waist, that made the blond question if the man was actually a woman or wanting to be one before deciding to keep quiet about it. The man's face seemed to be completely impassive as he sat in what looked to be a very comfortable sofa reading a book, though the veins that stuck out to the sides of his eyes made him wonder if the man had been reading a little too much recently.

Sitting at a table in the corner of the room he saw a younger man with blue eyes and light brown hair currently writing something without removing his attention from the slip of paper once.

Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to look at the other people in the room when a calm voice sounded right beside him. He may have been good at remaining unseen however that did not mean he was good at finding other people.

"So you are the new recruit," turning to face the owner of the voice he was greeted by a reasonably tall man with spiky brown hair and large black eyes. The stare that the man was levelling him caused Naruto to let out an involuntary shiver, he didn't know why but the man's stare just seemed to target some sort of irrational fear within him, "you may call me Tenzō, for the next six months I will be making you a respectable member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, any questions?"

"Uh… a couple, who was that evil girl that let me in here and why are you so scary?" the whiskered child said with nervousness in his voice before an echoing laughter knocked him out of his trance.

"Hahahaha, don't worry about it kid, Tenzō scares everyone when they first join, it's his way of saying, 'listen to me or bad things will happen to you," the man in the corner called out surprising the boy at the jovial tone he was using, before he noticed something strange, the man didn't seem to have any dislike directed towards him.

"Do you have to make so much noise Maneshi? I'm trying to read," the white eyed man asked quietly, causing the ninja in the corner to wave one of his hands in a placating manner.

"Sorry, it's just the first time I've ever heard anyone actually ask why Tenzō's so scary to his face," the newly dubbed Maneshi said good naturedly before he recalled the other question the boy had, "anyway, the chick that let you in is Mitsuki, she's a weird one, you never know what she's actually thinking."

"Yeah… she seems really cold," the orange clad new recruit said as he wrapped his arms around himself upon thinking about how cold she seemed.

"So she was doing her Itachi impression huh?" came Maneshi's amused statement causing the blond to look at him questioningly, "Mitsuki is an infiltration specialist through means of acting and boy does she love to act."

"Wait, are you telling me that she was just acting?" the youngest in the room asked in shock, before a grunt from beside him drew his attention.

"I believe you have other matters to attend to other than getting to know the current operatives," Tenzō said seriously though the wording he used made the blond stall for a moment, something the more experienced ninja easily identified however he knew that the boy would find out why he said it that way soon enough, "now come, the initiation exams have been prepared for you."

Suddenly the blond found himself staring into space as horror overwhelmed his mind, the old man hadn't mentioned anything about an ANBU exam, hell he didn't know if he could get even one part of it right let alone pass.

"Relax, the exam is just to get a general idea of what you specialize in and what you need to be taught over the next six months, while you can perform poorly there is no pass or fail involved," the white eyed man sitting on the sofa said calmly, causing the boy to blink at him a couple of times, "is there a problem?"

"S-sorry, I just, wasn't expecting you to say anything since you've never looked at me," the blond admitted to the man earning a few raised eyebrows at his statement before a grunt once again brought his attention to Tenzō, "s-sorry, I just get a little nervous when I hear about exams."

"Just follow me, or you will see my real scary face," the spiky haired ninja ordered quietly, causing the blond to stiffen at the prospect of the man having an even scarier face than the one he was introduced to.

It didn't take long for the pair to cross the room and reach a rather indiscrete looking door that the 'scary man' quickly opened to reveal a small room with a door on the other side with a single table and chair located in it that the blond was promptly motioned to sit at.

Upon taking his seat he looked down and immediately began to sweat, there were several sheets of paper and a pen resting on the wooden surface, something that he could immediately identify as a written exam.

"You have one hour to answer as many questions as you can, cheating will not be tolerated, your time starts now," the dark eyed stranger said in a voice that haunted the blond for reasons he didn't know.

Turning the sheets over he was greeted by several questions followed by large boxes that asked questions he had never heard of before, it was then that the white eyed mans statement popped into his head, this was a test to see what he knew as opposed to see if he had what it took to be a member of ANBU, so he decided to just take a deep breath and read through the questions.

_Q1: Where is the ideal point on the human body to force a false death state on a target._

'_What the hell? What's a false death state? Okay, let's try question two.'_

_Q2: What is the standard procedure for dealing with a nuke nins body upon elimination._

'_Uh… next question.'_

_Q3: Upon being close to capture or death, what is required of all ANBU operatives._

'_Huh? What does that mean? Why would someone that's nearly dead have to do anything? Let's try question four'_

The more the blond read the questions the more confused he became, however unlike in the academy tests, instead of him just getting annoyed at the questions the paper actually made him curious. Every question was actually something that could be used in real life instead of the annoying history lessons they were expected to remember when taking the genin exam… these questions were ones he actually wanted to know the answers to.

It was a strange sensation for the blond when Tenzō told him his time was up, sure he hadn't written anything but unlike the academy exams where it had felt like the exam took forever this one actually felt short, was it because he was actually thinking about the questions instead of just giving up and waiting for the exam to end? Whatever the reason he proceeded to stand up from his seat as his spiky haired senior walked over and gave his paper a quick look over before motioning for him to go through the door located on the other side of the room to the entrance.

What greeted his eyes upon going through the door was a hallway that turned off at both ends, with yet another door immediately in front of him while the rest of that side of the hallway was fitted with glass, allowing him to see where his next challenge would be located.

It looked almost like a forest in the middle of the day, the large number of lights on the ceiling providing the area with a significant amount of light that would make hiding more difficult than if it had been set at night. For just an instant his eyes caught something move within the wooded area, causing him to start searching through the foliage before seeing something that surprised him, an ANBU operative moving swiftly around the area.

"The goal of this test is for you to reach the other side while avoiding traps and patrols," the older ninja told him calmly, causing the blond to look at him attentively, if he was right then this exam sounded like it might actually be fun, "you're time will be recorded alongside the number of traps you triggered and the number of times you are spotted, now enter the training room and begin."

Naruto had to admit, this test was harder than he expected it to be. Sure he had been granted his position within the organisation courtesy of his stealth skills but for him to truly make use of that skill he needed something that he currently lacked… observation skills. He couldn't try to hide from patrols if he didn't know where they where and despite his skill at setting traps he couldn't find them when necessary, this resulted in a serious problem for him as he silently jumped from branch to branch, making no noise and leaving no trace of his presence as he proceeded to make his way through the dense woodland, idly wondering how it had gotten there in the first place.

Suddenly he was forced to move out of the way of several kunai as he caught his foot on a tripwire, earning a mental curse from him as he wondered if any of the other ninja in the area with him noticed the trap going off. Deciding that it was probably a bad idea to stick around he started moving away at full speed, hoping that he could put enough distance between himself and anyone that might have found the evidence of his passing.

Suddenly his ears caught a small thud that caused him to look around before seeing a bird masked shinobi moving towards his previous location at an impressive speed… he was certain it was pure luck the man didn't spot him moving just then.

Naruto had to admit, he had quite a lot of luck if the fact he never moved into anyone's line of sight while making his way towards the exit, though his luck with traps wasn't anywhere near as good, with him regularly setting off tripwires, explosive tags and even the odd snare but nothing had really caused him many problems for long and had never held him back long enough to be caught by a patrol.

XXX XXX XXX

Tenzō was amazed. Having grown the forest with his own technique he possessed the ability to see through the surface of every tree in the training field and what he saw was truly outstanding. The orange clad boy possessed perfect stealth skills, unknowingly keeping his chakra bottled up so tight that there was no leakage to sense, footwork so perfect that not a single noise was made upon moving and beyond that he was a natural at not leaving a trail to follow when moving.

He could tell immediately why the Hokage had assigned him to ANBU, skills like that would go to waste in the regular forces that focused more on skirmishes and open warfare as opposed to infiltration and assassination.

It was also painfully obvious that the blond wasn't the observant of individuals which was proven countless times by the traps that he set off but that was the reason for this test. Having seen that the boy couldn't answer a single question during the exam made it clear to him that the boy would have to learn a lot during the next six months however he now knew that the hardest lesson in the organisation was probably the only one the boy didn't have to learn, it was easy to bring a child's observation skills up to scratch especially when senses could easily be enhanced through the use of chakra, however it was nearly impossible to get someone to move in an entirely different way in just half a year and from what he could see, the boys style of movement was perfect for ANBU.

Sure he could benefit from more speed and faster reflexes but the very manner that he ran was like poetry in motion, he was the closest thing he had ever seen to a literal ghost in his life. When this test was over he knew one thing, the boy would raise a few eyebrows, after all, no one had ever managed to reach the end of the second test without being seen at least once, even Uchiha Itachi had been found by one of the patrols.

Today was looking to be a very good day after all.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't believe his luck, here he was facing the exit and despite everything he had managed to avoid detection, he just hoped that Tenzō wouldn't use his scary face because of him setting off so many traps. Opening the door out of the training ground he wasn't surprised to see Tenzō standing ready for him with an impassive look adorning his face. Immediately to his side was yet another door.

"It is time for the final exam, enter," the blond thought he noticed something different about the man's voice, it almost sounded like he was impressed but his mind immediately tossed that thought to the side, there was no way the man would be impressed by such a poor display, he was an ANBU after all.

Walking though the door his mind blanked out upon seeing what looked like a target range with moving targets shaped like humans with bull's eyes located at seven spots on the cut outs, however that's not what really got his attention. What really got his attention was the throwing area, it looked incredibly rough and the fact that he could see a partition between it and the regular floor made him wary. There was also a stand between the throwing area and the targets, with a series of Kunai, Shuriken and even Senbon located on top of it, all brand new and ready to be used.

"Take your place and prepare yourself, this is a combination of speed and accuracy test, you will use all the tools on the stand and you will be judged on your speed of throwing and accuracy with the projectiles," the 'scary man' informed him.

Upon hearing the purpose of the test Naruto proceeded to move onto the rough surface and pick up several kunai before his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the throwing area started moving and trying to buck him off.

"You may begin, " almost immediately the blond proceeded to take on a determined expression before launching four kunai together, surprising the senior ninja when each blade succeeded in hitting a bull's eye.

Tenzō certainly was surprised by this turn of events, from what he could tell of the boy so far he was perfect assassin material as far as skill went, even when the boy held the senbon in a manner that indicated he was unfamiliar with them he still managed to adjust his technique after missing just three targets, it was truly impressive. To think that he was being given a student that didn't need any training in stealth or accuracy… the only bad part of the situation was that he would have to make arrangements with T&I in order to make sure the boy had it in him to actually take a life… but given that ANBU initiates always had to deal with them anyway made it a moot point.

Naruto was rather happy with his performance, out of all thirty weapons he had to throw he had only missed three and that was only because he had never even held that type before let alone had any practice with them. Looking towards his newest sensei he saw the same expression he saw when he finished the second exam, one of apathy, then again he was never particularly good at reading emotions anyway.

"I see, your performance was surprising to say the least, no one has ever left all the questions in the first exam blank before," the dark eyed ANBU operative said calmly causing the blond to look deflated, "no one has ever set off so many traps in the second exam before," with that the boys face dropped even lower, "however no one has ever managed to avoid being seen at all in the second exam and only two people have ever performed better than you in the accuracy section."

Instantly Naruto looked at the man wide eyed, sure he found it strange that he already knew the results of the second test but he pushed that thought down and instead started to celebrate, he had actually done well in two parts of the exam.

"Now, I will let you meet the other members properly, I have to prepare your schedule for the next six months," the older man said before turning around and finishing, "and feel free to explore, this place will be your true home for the next three and a half years."

"Will do Tenzō-sensei!" the blond shouted enthusiastically before darting off to try and find the entrance, he wanted to learn more about the people he would be working with… they actually seemed like nice people and from what he had seen so far didn't seem to hold anything against him.


	4. Chapter 4

Umino Iruka couldn't understand it. He knew he had passed Naruto two days ago, hell he had even given the boy his own hitae-ate to represent his graduation. So why wasn't he there? He was the one person Iruka knew would do anything to attend his genin placement, even if it meant fighting his way through hell and back to do so.

So why was the boy missing and even more importantly… why wasn't his name on the list of genin cells? He just had to speak with the Hokage about this however right now he had to announce the team arrangements to the newly graduated students knowing full well that only three of these teams would pass the Jōnin test, that was the rule, only one third of a year was allowed to actually become genin, that ensured that there would always be a suitable supply of 'failures' that could be called upon after war to boost Konoha's ranks.

"Alright! Sit down and shut up," came his annoyed call to the class as his headache was intensified by their constant mutterings and of course, the bickering between Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino over the top of the class, Uchiha Sasuke. It was amazing how those two had managed to pass the exam and living proof that the test held in the academy was far too lenient on the students.

Both of the girls possessed figures that were best described as purely cosmetic. Unlike many of the experienced and serious Konoichi in the village who possessed incredible figures courtesy of their intense workouts and well balanced diets, the two academy students possessed barely any muscles and only had the figures they did through the act of dieting, a practice that had been the death of many potential Konoichi over the years.

Of course he had tried to steer them away from such a foolish endeavour but to no avail, they both possessed such an unhealthy obsession for the last Uchiha that they refused to listen to anything anyone said concerning their training, somehow believing that they could become competent Konoichi without proper nourishment or exercise… either that or being deluded into thinking the object of their affections would come to their rescue whenever they were in danger, he really wished they would get a reality check and start taking their careers seriously.

"Now I would like to say something to you all," the scarred Chūnin started as he moved into his well rehearsed speech designed to inspire the youths in front of him to do their best and reach their true potential before announcing the teams, his resolve to speak with the Hokage about Naruto's absence not in the least bit dimmed.

XXX XXX XXX

Elsewhere completely unaware of the speech his former classmates were receiving Naruto couldn't stop himself from smiling. The ANBU HQ was amazing, as well as the forested training area there was also an obstacle course fitted with more traps than he could care to count, a dojo with all kinds of weapons on display for practice with, there was even a library though he immediately left that one alone… he hated having to read.

He was also amazed at the large training field that was located not far from the forest, complete with a rocky slope and a small lake… to think that all this was hidden directly under Konoha and most people didn't even know it existed.

Letting out a large grin the blond proceeded to make his way back to the entrance, hoping that he would at least get to meet the guy they called Maneshi again… he almost seemed fun.

Coming up to the door leading to the social area he had initially met Tenzō in, he casually opened it, lacking any of the nervousness that had been coursing through his veins when he had first come across the area, this time he froze when he saw that he was now the centre of attention within the room. Every set of eyes was fixed on him as he stood there wondering why they seemed so interesting in him.

"Uh… is there a problem?" he asked in the hope that the silence would be broken and he wasn't surprised when it was broken by Maneshi.

"Is there a problem? You got within fifteen feet of Choumei and weren't detected… what sort of stealth demon are you?" the brown haired man asked him in disbelief causing him to look confused, who was Choumei and how did he even know about what happened during the exams?

"Uh… who's Choumei and how do you even know how I did?" the spiky haired blond asked, causing the room to notice his confusion.

"Choumei, Tori, bird mask dude," the most talkative of the group said, causing the boy to go wide eyed upon realising what they were talking about, "oh and Raida here is a Hyūga… you do know the Hyūga are don't you?" he continued with disbelief in his tone when the name didn't bring any reaction from the blond.

"Uh… well there was one in my class but that's about it," the blond admitted, causing every person in the room to look at him with raised eyebrows…how could the boy not know who the Hyūga were?

"The Hyūga are the most powerful clan in Konoha, they possess a kekkei genkai that allows them to see through solid objects, focus on objects far away, see three hundred and sixty degrees and see chakra," came a calm statement from the purple haired woman sitting at a table, her saucer of sake nowhere to be seen anymore.

"Hehe, I never knew that," the whiskered child admitted before something in his mind clicked, "wait, are you saying that Raida-san saw my entire test?!"

The nods of confirmation from the entire room made the blond pale, if they knew everything he had done then they would already have their opinions based around his current skill set.

"Yeah and you managed to avoid being detected by Choumei when you were less than fifteen feet away from him, only Tenzō has ever done that before and even then he had to stay perfectly still while hiding inside a tree," the blue eyed man said upon placing his arm around the boys shoulder in a friendly manner, "hell I think that alone deserves a celebration, Yūgao booze!"

The result was immediate as the blond proceeded to splutter indignantly at the older man's statement, it almost sounded like the man was going to give him some.

"(sigh) what kind do you want Naruto-san?" the purple haired woman said as she got out of her seat and moved to the bar, causing the blond to almost choke in shock at her question.

"W-what the hell?! Why the hell are you asking me something like that?! Isn't it obvious I'm underage?" the blue eyed child almost shouted causing everyone in the room to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"What? Never heard the saying 'old enough to kill, old enough to smoke, drink, torture and screw'?" the friendliest of the group said in a light hearted manner causing the blond to look at him as though he was insane.

"Maneshi, don't pretend Anko-san's version is the standard," Raida said blankly as he turned a page in his book causing the blond to wonder who he was talking about.

"Oh come on, you know this version has a better ring to it than 'old enough to kill, old enough to drink," the most jovial of the group said before dragging the blond to the self service bar, "anyway, since you don't know what you like… let's just get you to try everything!"

Naruto had to admit that that was probably the strangest situation he had ever been in, being made to try all sorts of different drinks with more than half of them burning his mouth and making him want to vomit while the person he supposed he could call his newest friend joined in the binge, telling him about all sorts of things he had done in his life, eventually letting the boy know that he had actually been writing explosive seals when the boy had originally arrived.

"So… I heard you painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight while wearing that 'I'm here sign'," the now slightly tipsy ANBU said upon deciding that he had talked about himself enough and wanted to hear a little more about the blond he was currently trying (and failing) to get drunk… the wonders of Uzumaki healing.

"Yeah, that was fun, especially when I had to run from those Chūnin with nothing better to do than try and catch me," the blue eyed 'civilian' said with a smile as he remembered what he had decided would be his last prank ever… it was one of the reasons it had been on such a grand scale, he had already decided that no matter what he would give up pranks.

It was weird though, despite the lack of interaction the other two in the room had with him they didn't seem to hold anything against him, instead they just seemed… reserved for lack of a better word. Whenever he tried talking to them they would respond positively, however it just seemed like they were the kind to keep to themselves, unlike Maneshi.

"Anyway, why aren't the ANBU that tried to find me in the second exam here?" Naruto decided to ask when the question popped into his head, bringing a response from Yūgao as she calmly sat with a small saucer of sake in front of her.

"They were part of the K.D.F. and their shift has started," the purple haired woman said before noticing the blonds confusion at her statement, "there are two sections within ANBU, the K.D.F. and the Black Ops. From your skill set and the tests you underwent it is clear that you have been assigned here as a member of Black Ops, the group that leaves the village for missions and are required to keep their identities a total secret from everyone outside of ANBU, the elders and Hokage-sama."

"The elders? Do you mean Koharu and Homura?" the blond asked.

"That is Koharu-sama and Homrua-sama, do not forget the suffix," Raida stated seriously as he turned another page of his book, causing the blond to look at him strangely.

"Don't mind him, he's always like that, the only reason we can get away without showing each other respect is because of how close most of us are but as soon as you start talking to or about someone you don't really know then watch out," his brown haired drinking buddy said with a smile.

"Beyond those two there is also another elder, a man named Shimura Danzō, a word of caution though, be careful around him, while his loyalty isn't in any doubt his methods are," the purple haired konoichi stated seriously, causing the blond to gulp, "now as I was saying, you are obviously Black Ops material but the K.D.F. have a different purpose," she continued earning a confused look from the blond before she started to explain.

"K.D.F. is short for Konoha Defence Force and unlike Black Ops only recruits ninja that are capable fighters, their job is twofold, to protect the village during invasions and to protect the identities of those in Black Ops. Myself and Tenzō are members of that section."

"Wait, how do you guys protect the identities of Black Ops guys?" Naruto asked confused about how one section of ANBU could protect another.

"Because unlike those in Black Ops the secrecy behind our identities isn't as great," she told him, earning an even more confused look from the whiskered blond, "most of the members of Black Ops are officially on long term missions outside of the village, some are having a vacation due to the stress of the work they are required to do and some have even officially resigned due to trauma. Now if that's the case with everyone in ANBU then where would the suspicion of who we were be directed?"

"The people that aren't really seen in the village," the blue eyed child muttered as his brain finally began to understand why it was the case, "but if the ANBU that are seen in the village can be identified then people won't question us with cover stories."

"Yeah… well former ANBU operatives will but that's because they know how things really work," the tipsy ninja said while giving the blond a pat on the back, "by the way, what's your cover?"

"I failed the genin exam and decided to give up being a ninja," the blond said while looking down in embarrassment at his official story.

"Really? Damn, that is one good cover story, now all you really need to do is get behind the counter and serve customer around the entrance and you'll have the cover of working as a civilian in a second hand junk shop," the grin that almost split the man's face was almost infectious and the blond soon found himself laughing at the own greatness of his cover, no one that knew him would expect him to really be in the villages elite after all.

However there was something nagging him about his cover, as though there was something he should know that he had forgotten… then it struck him.

"Iruka-sensei!" the sudden outburst caught everyone off guard as he finally realised what it was that he had forgotten, Iruka had passed him and would obviously know that there was something wrong when he didn't turn up for team assignments, if there was a single flaw in his cover it was his own teacher, "dammit, I have to find Iruka-sensei and try to make him believe I've changed my mind about becoming a ninja!"

"Of course, he was the one that passed you wasn't he?" Raida asked the blond as he began to panic, "however that can wait until Tenzō has returned with your schedule, don't worry, he won't be long."

Despite the man's words the blond couldn't help but feel worried, unlike them Iruka knew him, knew how much he had wanted to become a shinobi and how much time and effort he had put into it. The mere idea of him just deciding to drop out the day after he had received his hitae-ate was something no one would believe… so how could he do anything to keep the Chūnin's suspicions away?

"Shop's finally closed," came a familiar voice from the entrance that immediately caused him to turn and see the short haired brunette that had been tending the store when he had arrived, her expression looking completely bored before she turned to him and her eyes turned to glaciers before saying something that made the other adults confused, "Uzumaki, state it."

"One, one, nine, six, seven, five, seven," the effect was immediate, all the ANBU sweatdropped at the scene as Mitsuki used what they called her Itachi impression to make the blond state the access code to the base of operations.

"Good," she said in what seemed like a happy tone before she started moving towards the bar.

"Yo Mitsuki, you been scaring Naruto here?" Maneshi said in a tone that indicated he was beginning to get properly drunk as opposed to just a little tipsy.

"No, just making sure he remembers the code," she responded with a smile before looking at the blond and deciding to see what she could discover about him, "so... Black Ops or K.D.F?"

"Black Ops," came a voice from the entrance to the training areas, showing that Tenzō had returned to the group, all the while earning a short whistle from the girl.

"So we might end up working together, I take it Maneshi's already told you about me," she directed towards the blond who nodded hesitantly, "so what's he spouted about me?"

"That you're an infiltration specialist that acts… a lot," the blond said earning a nod from the young woman before they were interrupted by the dark eyed 'drill instructor'.

"Naruto, how drunk are you right now?" Tenzō asked wanting to make sure he wouldn't have to explain the schedule to the blond more than necessary.

"I don't know, I've never been drunk before… is it supposed to feel different?" Naruto asked in confusion earning a sigh from the older man as Maneshi began laughing, Yūgao let out a small chuckle and Mitsuki looked at him seriously before proceeding to pull out a small torch and putting one of her hands on one of the boys eyes before shining the light into it.

"GAH! What the hell are you doing?!" the blond asked as he tried to get the spots out of his eye while trying to figure out why she was trying to blind him.

"You're sober, your eye dilated almost instantly, when you're drunk it takes a lot longer to do that," she explained to him before putting the light back into her pocket.

"Alright then, Uzumaki, here is your schedule for the next six months," the man that would soon be his sensei told him as he passed a sheet of paper with a grid on it. It initially confused the blond until he figured out that the horizontal lines indicated each day of the week and the vertical columns indicated the time.

It was then that he noticed something that struck him as strange.

"Uh, why does it only cover eight hours a day?" it was a valid question and one that was instantly given to him by the girl that was currently sitting next to him.

"So you can keep up appearances, from what that schedule indicates I would guess that your cover is as a civi like me," she told him with a smirk, causing him to wonder how her cover could make her a civilian, something she picked up on from his confused look, "I had a mission that went very, very wrong."

Silence reigned when she said that, despite her position in ANBU she had very nearly quit being a ninja altogether after that incident.

"So I have officially left the shinobi ranks due to psychological trauma," she told him with a bored expression though for the first time he noticed something he hadn't before, a look in her eyes that he recognised… one that he saw in the mirror every morning, a deep sadness.

Almost immediately the blond felt his spirits lower, from the sounds of it she had been in a situation he couldn't begin to imagine ever going through, something he honestly felt he might be better off never having to come close to going through.

Then it hit him.

"Mitsuki-san, I'm sorry but could you possibly tell me exactly what happened on that mission?" he asked her in a tone that everyone recognised as the one used when someone has found the final clue to a puzzle and just needed help getting it perfect.

"Huh? why?" came her confused response upon being asked to tell him her story, honestly it was something that she didn't like dwelling on but at the same time she realised that the blond had a reason to ask her if his tone was anything to go by.

"Sorry, but it's to do with my cover," was all he said before telling the group his plan, causing eyebrows to raise upon realising just how much intelligence the blond truly possessed.

XXX XXX XXX

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE DECIDED TO DROP OUT!" came the furious shout of a certain Chūnin instructor as he stood facing the Hokage in a fury many didn't know he possessed, "BEING A NINJA MEANT EVERYTHING TO HIM, THERE IS NO WAY HE WOULD JUST DECIDE TO DROP OUT OF THE SHINOBI PROGRAM!"

"I assure you Iruka-kun that it was entirely his choice to do so, do not ask me why he decided to give up so soon after receiving his hitae-ate but that is the reality of the situation and nothing you can say will change it," the hokage said as he sat behind his desk, he knew that Iruka would be the main problem he would have to face however he trusted Naruto to keep the truth a secret and come up with something to keep the Chūnin satisfied with his decision to become a 'dropout'.

It was actually rather ironic, that the one member of the graduating class that possessed the skills to join the villages elite would be the only one known as a dropout. That while the rest of his class would be doing chores and getting team building exercises with the odd bit of actual training here and there, he would be trained purely in the art of the killer and by the time the rest of his class received their first C-rank mission, Naruto would probably have already been on either an A or S-rank mission.

Still, the fact that most of the children his age would be the branches that support the leaves, he would be a root that supports the tree… one of the important, hidden elements of the village and the one person that would truly be proud of him for it was not authorised to know about it.

"Then I demand that I get to speak with him! He was my student and I'll be damned if he's stopped from achieving his dream because of damned politics!" it wasn't the sort of situation that anyone would expect, normally Iruka was the first to obey the Hokage and the last to question him, however right now he was the first to question him, probably because of how surreal the entire situation appeared to him.

"Then you will have to find him, he is still a citizen of Konoha and still within these walls so I can do nothing to stop you from seeking him out for answers, however right now I must ask that you leave, I have work that must be done. Goodbye Iruka-kun," the aged leader informed the teacher who merely gave a curt bow before leaving the office to find his wayward student, "Tori, inform Uzumaki Naruto of this development."

"Hai Hokage-sama," was all that was heard from the darkness behind the aged leader before the bird masked ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves in order to give the boy the information he had been ordered to give him and if necessary, help in coming up with a believable alibi… it was the least he could do for the only person to avoid his detection while moving so close to him, after all, keeping someone who could possibly become the greatest assassin in history where he belonged would benefit Konoha more than a mere jinchūriki that couldn't use his bijū.


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto had to admit, ANBU was strange. The one thing he did not expect when he first arrived was to feel like he belonged there but here he was, with a group of people he had literally only known for a couple of hours at the most and he already felt at home.

It was a strange sensation, he had never been welcomed anywhere except the Hokage's office and even then there was only one person there for him to see and unfortunately, the old man tended to be busy most of the time.

The only problem he really had was Iruka. He really didn't want to have to lie to the one person that had believed in him outside of the Hokage but he had to, it was something he knew he had to do when he made his decision and despite his previous second thought he now knew that this wouldn't be a mistake. Here he could nurture his talents, work for the good of the village and even more importantly… be around people that didn't hate him.

"Uzumaki Naruto-san," came a firm call from the entrance immediately drawing his attention. His first instinct was to apologise to the man he saw, after all he had apparently done something that could put the man's skills in doubt, however he didn't get time to say anything before the bird masked ANBU continued, "Hokage-sama has ordered me to inform you that Umino Iruka-san is currently looking for you, it would be wise to leave here as soon as you have devised a cover to put towards him."

"Huh, y-yeah, I'll head out now then, see ya Maneshi, Mitsuki, Yūgao, Raida, Tenzō," the blond said as he got out of his seat and moving towards the exit at a firm pace before Tori stopped him.

"For your information Hokage-sama has informed Iruka-san that it was your decision to drop out of the ninja program, do you have a cover that coincides with that?" the older operative asked the boy calmly, causing the boy to blink at him a couple of times before letting out a grin.

"Yeah, thanks Choumei-san," the spiky haired youth said happily before being allowed past the masked ninja.

"Use the roof, it's too busy to leave a closed shop right now," the actress of the group told him loudly, earning a nod of confirmation from the blond, "and the code is?!"

"I know already, you don't need to ask me every two minutes Mitsuki," came the blonds retort before he vanished out of the social area, ready to meet the one person that could cause him real trouble with his cover.

"So what do you think of him?" Choumei asked the group once the blond was out of earshot.

"I'm not sure yet, he's young and a true master in the art of stealth but until he's taken a life he will always be an uncertainty," Yūgao stated calmly earning nods of agreement from all but Tenzō.

"Perhaps but I will be certain to fix that, it is a simple matter to make him make his first kill before his first set of resistance training," the spiky haired man stated seriously earning several wide eyes as the group stared at him in disbelief.

"What the fuck are you on Tenzō, the first kill is hard enough, you could break the kid putting him through resistance training immediately after it," Maneshi told the man with an obvious amount of revulsion at the idea… he still remembered his first set of resistance training and it nearly broke him, his first kill wasn't much better… to combine the two was never considered, not even the greatest prodigy ANBU had ever been given had to endure both together and he had already been broken by the Kyūbi attack twelve years ago.

The looks on the others faces made it clear that they all had the same opinion as the slowly sobering man.

"I know but I have faith that he can handle it and will come out even stronger than any of us because of it," the dark eyed instructor stated seriously, knowing full well that not a single person in the group would accept his reasoning.

"I hope you know what you're doing, we don't need another Itachi, remember that Tenzō," Yūgao stated with a glare before she proceeded to try and drown down the idea her senpai had told them with a good drink… sometimes being in a room of trained killers could bring up thoughts better left alone.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto wouldn't deny it, Ichiraku's was the best. No matter how many times he had the delicious noodles they always made him feel great, so it didn't exactly hurt when he had to pay for his last food binge.

He had chosen to go to the ramen stand knowing that Iruka-sensei would definitely check for him there, it was for that reason that he had made sure to force himself to eat at a more sedate pace and replay what Mitsuki had told him of her mission through his head. Of course this combined with his lack of a hitae-ate had created an immediate concern with the patron but he had refused to say anything more than telling them that the Hokage had just wanted to confirm something with him concerning the events of the previous night. He didn't want to have to say the same thing twice after all.

"Naruto!" the loud call from the one academy instructor Naruto called friend brought him out of his 'downer' as he immediately cheered up upon seeing the scarred Chūnin.

"Iruka-sensei," it felt strange, trying to say his name in a sad tone while feeling so happy to see the man again, "how are you?"

"Naruto, please explain what the hell is going on, why has Hokage-sama told me you decided to drop out of the shinobi program?!" the shock that permeated the small stand was palpable as the Teuchi and Ayame stared at the man in shock, after all this was the first time they had heard that piece of information.

"… Because I did," it was said so quietly that the adults could barely hear it and when they did they couldn't believe he had said it… the Naruto they knew would never give up on his dream of being a ninja.

"Why?... why would you drop out now of all times? You had just gotten your hitae-ate! You had proven yourself worthy of being a ninja so why? why would you drop out?!" Iruka couldn't believe what he had heard but he knew he had and despite everything he wanted to know why the blond had come to that decision.

"I met a girl," it was not the answer the people he had considered family were expecting however once they had processed what he had said the group began to growl in anger.

"Naruto… are you telling me that you decided to quit because a girl asked you to?" Iruka's voice was so low the blond was surprised he could hear it, however the conversation was going exactly the way he had predicted it would so far.

"No," it was short and to the point, combined with his quiet air and the Chūnin he was speaking to mistook it for what it seemed most likely to be.

"Naruto! Of all the things you could do, quitting because of some girl is the worst possible! What are you going to do now that you aren't in the academy anymore? How are you going to live without being a ninja?!" the academy teacher practically yelled at him, unaware that every word he made had already been predicted by the blond… he was just far too straight forward in his thinking for a ninja.

"I didn't quit because she asked me to, I quit because she opened my eyes!" the blond yelled causing the Chūnin to blink in surprise, "she used to be a konoichi, when she saw my hitae-ate she started talking to me, asked me what I knew of life as a ninja."

The stand was silent of all but the blonds story, Iruka was slowly beginning to piece together why the blond might have quit but he needed to be sure, he needed to know if it truly was the blonds decision or not.

"After I told her she called me a fool… she said I had no idea what being a ninja meant," Naruto was beginning to appreciate all the lessons he had received on how to control his emotions, letting all the sadness and regret in his life pour through his face in a perfect mask of regret and sadness, "she told me about a mission she had been on… she told me about being forced to watch her friends and sensei die, about how the enemy had… had hacked their bodies apart for fun…"

Suddenly he felt a firm hug wrap around him, he knew that Iruka seemed to think of him like a little brother but he had never expected the man to try comforting him like that.

"It's alright, I guess I can't blame you for having second thoughts after hearing about something like that, just please do something for me, think about what you really want to do with your life and remember, not everyone has experiences like that, it's actually quite rare for a mission to go that wrong," the Chūnin said as the other occupants of the stand looked down, finally understanding why the blond had looked so down… he was the sort that would see himself in a situation and take what he had learned to heart, it was just the way he was.

"O-okay… um Iruka-sensei," the blond started, causing the pineapple haired man to move away enough to look him in the eyes, "please don't tell anyone about this… I don't want them thinking I'm a coward."

Iruka just let out a sad smile upon hearing the blonds quiet request and simply gave a disarming smile before nodding in confirmation, his student wanted him to keep a secret and he wouldn't betray the boys trust, that is how he worked with every child and Naruto was no exception.

"Arigatou Iruka-sensei," the young boy said with a sad smile before the Chūnin moved to a stool beside him.

"Well I guess there is another thing I can do for you, Teuchi-san, I'll pay for Naruto-kun's meal today," the older man said earning a happy smile off the blond as he proceeded to spend some time with his second favourite person in the world.

XXX XXX XXX

The Hokage couldn't help but let out a small smile as he watched the confrontation in his crystal orb, he knew the blond would manage to trick Iruka better than he himself could. He was slightly surprised by the blonds decision to use the history of one of his new colleagues as a way of convincing his former teacher that he had been scared out of becoming a ninja.

It was unfortunate that he would have to resort to such a thing but at the same time he gave himself a perfect opening to re-enter the regular forces, the fact he had told Iruka that he would think about it could be used to reinstate him as a genin, of course his increase in skill could also be attributed to him keeping himself ready in case he ever changed his mind.

All in all the entire confrontation had played out perfectly, since Iruka would keep his graduation a secret he could just pretend he had decided that failing three times was proof that he wasn't meant to be a ninja which most of the populace would believe, though he was certain that certain people would be against the idea of a jinchūriki being a civilian, such a thing just wasn't normal and made the village look weak.

However he knew that time in ANBU would cause the boy to mature quickly and if anything he would come out of it far more ready to face the ninja world than he would have been before.

"Hokage-sama," came a calm call as Tori landed in front of the aged leaders desk, the standard procedure for when asking for permission to speak unless called for.

"Permission to speak freely," the aged leader stated wondering what Choumei of all people would want to ask or say to him.

"Concerning the new initiates training, Tenzō intends to put him through a certain series of training that will probably break him," the highly experienced ANBU stated seriously, causing the aged leaders eyes to narrow dangerously.

"Explain," the command came causing the ANBU to nod and make his case.

"He intends to put the recruit through resistance training immediately after desensitisation training," the bird masked ninja stated causing the aged leader to close his eyes.

Sarutobi's mind moved at a hundred miles a minute as he thought of the blond and the two types of training, while there was no such thing as desensitisation training he understood what the shinobi meant, making the blond go through his first kill immediately before resistance training would normally be a bad idea however his mind immediately focused on what the blond would say if he ever found out he had forbidden it.

Naruto would take such an action to be an insult, he would think that the aged leader was underestimating him and despite his knowledge telling him that putting the blond through both would be a bad idea, his gut kept telling him that the boy could handle it.

"(sigh) I see, I understand your concerns however I would be lying if I said I didn't believe the initiate could handle it… I will allow Tenzō to use this method, if only because I know the trainee better than most," the shock on the younger man's face was hidden by his mask but the aged leader knew it would be there, the mere idea that he would allow such a cruel training regime was something that he believed would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Hai Hokage-sama," Choumei stated before jumping into the shadows, ready to strike should he every be needed.

"_I hope I made the right decision," _was the only sentence to pass through the Kage's head as he proceeded to rise from his desk for the end of the day, his paperwork long since completed but one more item on his agenda for the day.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from smiling as he entered his apartment, today had just been that good. He had quickly been accepted by his new comrades, even making friends with at least one of them, he had managed to spend some quality time with Iruka-sensei and even got to eat over twenty bowls of ramen in one sitting.

It really was a good day. Sure it started off like it would be bad and he had nearly had a panic attack at one point but everything else was actually pretty awesome… hell he'd even gotten to drink alcohol, he was sure no one else his age had done that.

Almost instantly his mind halted. The others his age all thought he was a deadlast idiot and would all probably be having fun on some mission outside the village somewhere tomorrow, if they weren't being taught some really cool jutsu's by their Jōnin sensei's. The thought almost made him upset before he shook his head clear of those thoughts knowing that he had chosen his current path and that there was no point thinking about how the others were doing.

Taking a deep breath he began to think about something he hadn't since getting his hitae-ate… Sakura-chan. He almost felt strange, he had been chasing her for so long but when something big happened she was the last person he thought of. He knew that he no longer stood any chance at all of being with her, his status as a civilian would act as a big 'failure' sign that would destroy any chance he had of her noticing him.

Upon realising the reality of the situation he couldn't help but sigh, it would appear that joining ANBU really had confused his life even more than he originally expected. However it was too late to regret his decision, he was currently an ANBU in training and as such would have to make himself focus on the here and now, he would have to give his all to learning everything he could and becoming a true ANBU worthy of respect.

XXX XXX XXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu and Shimura Danzō were not the sort to normally be surprised but this was not a normal situation.

Standing in front of them was a cat masked ANBU with spiky brown haired visible behind the porcelain. The ANBU had just finished giving his report to the quartet, his eyes never leaving the one eyed man as his suspicions towards the Hokage's old rival made themselves clear.

"I see, to think that his stealth is that great even without the observation skills to put it to full effect," Sarutobi muttered as he processed Tenzō's report of the young blonds abilities.

"Yes, I never thought he would be that talented in the art of stealth," Homura stated with a hint of surprise showing through his features, knowing that if the blond was capable of getting within fifteen feet of Tori then he would have no trouble killing anyone in Konoha outside of a Hyūga, Danzō or Sarutobi and even then there was no guarantee he couldn't assassinate them as well.

"It would appear that we are lucky to have him on our side as opposed to as our enemy," the old woman decided to voice earning nods of agreement from the others in the room before a gaze caught her attention, "what is it you wish to say Danzō-san?"

All eyes flitted towards the dark haired old man as he decided how to word his thoughts.

"Do you remember how much do we lose from our peace treaty with Iwakagure?" the scarred old man asked, causing several eyes to narrow, already beginning to see where the man known as a warhawk was going.

"More than is healthy for the village," the bespectacled man in the group stated calmly, "however going to war with them would not be in our best interest with our current shinobi."

"Because of the Sandaime Tsuchikage and his Jinton jutsu," Danzō stated seriously, knowing that the group all knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Danzō, I will not start a war by assassinating Ōnoki," the aged leader stated with a firm voice, causing his old rival to raise an eyebrow at the man's outburst.

"I was not suggesting starting a war, merely eliminating their main bargaining chip to give us a more advantageous treaty," the one eyed old man stated calmly, causing the Koharu and Homura to start thinking quietly to themselves.

"It wouldn't be difficult to have Uzumaki learn the basics of Juken, doing so could allow him to simulate a heart attack," the grey haired man stated calmly before having his sentence completed by the retired Konoichi.

"And a man of Ōnoki's age dying of a heart attack wouldn't seem suspicious," the statements of the elders rang in his ears, could he send a child to kill a Kage just for the sake a little more power? As much as he hated to admit it the other three in the room had a point, without the fear of having hundreds of shinobi crushed by Ōnoki's kekkei Tōta then Konoha would be in a position to demand a fairer treaty without anywhere near the same level of threat in any retaliation.

"So Hiruzen, what do you say to my suggestion? Is it not the purpose of ANBU to do what is needed to make the tree stand strong?" the bandaged old ninja asked his former rival seriously, knowing that the man was currently having to decide whether to listen to his morals or do what was necessary for the village, "remember, it was Uzumaki's choice to join Konoha's dark side, when he is ready he must be prepared to do anything necessary to keep Konoha strong."

"(sigh) I will have to think about it, this is not something that can be decided with the toss of a coin, I promise you however that I will have an answer by the time he finishes his training," and with that said the aged leader proceeded to stand up to leave the room, "you are dismissed Tenzō."

"Hai Hokage-sama," and without further ado the man vanished in a swirl of leaves, his mind wandering over what he had learned after giving his report… however he knew that if anyone could succeed in assassinating a Kage it would be the boy he was now in charge of.

He would make sure the boy was ready if it ever came to that possibility.


	6. Chapter 6

Hatake Kakashi was normally quite a laid back individual, preferring to read his favourite book over everything else. It did irritate him quite a bit that people looked down upon the greatness that was Icha Icha but that was mostly because of misconceptions as opposed to anything else… just because the author was a proud pervert didn't mean the books were porn, if anything they would be better described as comedy but that didn't stop people from thinking it was something else entirely.

There was one thing that had caught his attention the previous day, the fact that Uzumaki Naruto had apparently dropped out of the academy after failing the graduation exam three times. That had raised an eyebrow off him courtesy of one piece of information, the fact he had stolen the forbidden scroll from the Hokage tower. As a former ANBU captain he had a good idea of what was going on, with the skills to infiltrate such a well guarded structure and steal such a sensitive document the boy was obviously Black Op material.

Of course that meant he would have to pay the organisation a visit sooner or later, after all, he would like to witness the boys skills himself, perhaps he could give the boy some advice if it was needed. After all, ANBU was nothing like the regular forces he had been raised to join and every little bit of help would help the boy adjust to his new environment.

Perhaps he should go and see if the blond was there now… his genin team could wait a few hours and let the hunger sink in after all.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto felt strange, it was rare for him to leave his apartment this late but at the same time he had managed to get a good sleep for a change and felt incredibly refreshed compared to how he usually did, having to start acting like a civilian might actually help him feel better for when he actually did start training and taking missions.

The thought made the young boy giddy as he proceeded to walk along the street, forcing his face to settle in a frown as he wandered off towards ANBU HQ, wondering who he'd meet today and if they'd be like the others he had been introduced to so far.

Just thinking about the group made him sober up a little, despite everything he had originally thought they had thrown his expectations out of the window, they accepted him despite his lack of book smarts and most importantly, he had been given a reality check.

To hear about Mitsuki's mission gone wrong had made him feel sick, she had just been promoted to Chūnin and was put on what was supposed to be nothing more than a B-rank mission to protect a client from low ranking Shinobi with her Jōnin sensei leading the team just in case something went wrong… unfortunately the client had severely underestimated just how much his enemy was prepared to spend to kill him.

A group of Iwa nin that included two Jōnin had been the opponents, catching the team off guard and crippling her sensei before he could put up his guard, the rest of the team had been quick work. It was through that mission she had learned about the average Iwa nins hatred towards Konoha as they took advantage of the mission to kill the client to exact what they called 'revenge' upon her team.

He still found it hard to believe what she had told him, the attackers had literally taken the teams still living Jōnin and started butchering him while forcing all his subordinates to watch the bloodshed before moving onto the next, then the next. She had been the last in line purely because of her gender, from what he could tell from what she told him, the men had been planning on 'using her' before turning her into chunks of meat. It was pure luck that the screams of her last teammate had been heard by a group of Konoha nin on their way back from a different mission.

One of the Jōnin had been killed before he even knew the enemies were there courtesy of a kunai to the skull, what happened next however sounded incredible. Three Konoha Jōnin had literally appeared out of thin air and before the Iwa nins could react they had already slit their throats.

He had asked her how the Konoha group had literally appeared out of nowhere without being detected and discovered that she had done some digging after that event, finding out that the men that had saved her had once been the Yondaime's personal guard and the only people known to know the Hiraishin no Jutsu that made the previous Hokage so famous.

That piece of info had been a real shock to the blond, the mere idea that there were people out there that knew the Yondaime's secret jutsu's was something that made him almost giddy, until he remembered that he was technically a civilian and wouldn't be taught any of them.

But despite the idea of some of the most powerful jutsu still existing he knew that the true point of the story wasn't her rescue but the fact that she had been forced to watch her comrades get butchered alive. The mere idea made him shiver in fear, he could imagine what it would be like to be forced to watch Sakura-chan, hell even if it was only the teme it would still be horrible and probably scar him for life.

However he was Uzumaki Naruto and he wouldn't let something like that stop him, Mitsuki possessed the courage to continue her ninja career and was even inducted into ANBU, so while the event left its mark on her she refused to let it destroy her… even if it was by pretending to be someone else.

He couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh upon thinking that, he had literally only known her for a couple of hours at the most and could already tell that she acted as a means to escape her pain, by letting herself slip into a different role with a separate history she was capable of making herself forget the pain that had been brought upon her by that experience.

He knew how he could tell so easily, he had done the same thing most of his life. Pretending to be the hyperactive loudmouth to hide the pain he felt from being isolated by everyone, until the mask had become inseparable from his real face. The only difference is that she had several masks that she wore instead of just one meaning she was never stuck with the same persona like he was right now… he would have to ask her for some help in creating a new series of believable persona's in case he ever needed to act on a mission.

Finally looking up from his thoughts the blond wasn't surprised to see the entrance to the junk shop that housed his new base of operations, immediately opening the door to see a sight he was hoping he wouldn't, the very girl that had given him his cover was once again standing at the counter.

"Good, morning, are you having a good day?" she asked him cheerfully, causing him to look around the shop and see that there was actually a customer today. Suddenly something popped into his head and he had to force himself to push down the grin that was threatening to split his face in two.

"Yeah, I heard off a friend that there was a job opening here," the whiskered child said, earning a curious look from the bystander, it wasn't yet common knowledge that he had 'dropped out of the academy' yet.

"I see, in the back first door on the left, the boss shouldn't be too busy," Mitsuki said in her civilian mask earning a quick 'thank you' from the blond before he went through and turned to face the safe. He had to admit that it was located perfectly, there were no windows near it and the only opening outside of the stairs was at the perfect distance and angle to prevent anyone from catching a glimpse of anyone entering or leaving it.

For once he was glad for the girls 'torture' as he input the code to open the safe flawlessly before slowly opening it, squeezing through the small gap he allowed for himself before closing the steel door behind him with barely a sound.

He had to admit that he would have to do something to allow himself to come and go as he pleased, probably have a Kage Bunshin watch the store five days a week, that way no one would show surprise about him going through the back in the morning or leaving after it closed.

Yeah, that seemed like a simple enough plan and he was sure that Tenzō wouldn't have any problems with it since it would give Mitsuki more time away from the counter as well so all in all it would benefit more than just him.

So he did what felt right, walking towards the social area, silently pondering if he would see any familiar faces today, outside of Tenzō that is. Honestly he was actually hoping to meet Choumei without his mask, it just seemed wrong to him right now to not know the face behind the mask.

As soon as he opened the double doors to the common room he blinked several times in surprise at the scene that met him.

All the ANBU operatives were gathered together, with each and every one of them gluing their eyes on a tall man with gravity defying silver hair, a hitae-ate covering his left eye, a fabric mask hiding the bottom half of his face and a standard Jōnin uniform covering his body.

His mind immediately noted that this man was definitely not a member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.

"Yo, I was looking forward to meeting you again Naruto, it has been too long," the silver haired regular forces member called out jovially as the group noted his presence.

"Uh… do I know you?" the whiskered blond asked dumbfounded, it was like all the ninja in the room knew and accepted this strange man, it just seemed so… out of place when he wasn't even in ANBU. The worst part however was that Naruto felt like he should know this one eyed stranger but his mind refused to give him the answer.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, Jōnin sensei for the newly formed genin cell seven… though you will probably remember me as former ANBU Taichō Inu," with those words it all suddenly made sense, the reason everyone there accepted the man was because they had worked with him before and if what he had said was true, he was one of the best… but that didn't really matter to him.

"Y… you mean…" the blond started, causing the silver haired Jōnin to let out a kind nod, making the mistake of closing his eye to do so.

Everyone in the room stared in shock as the blond launched himself at the older man and did the one thing no one expected, he punched his senior in the face.

"YOU'RE THE BASTARD THAT KEPT TRYING TO FORCE ME TO EAT VEGETABLES!" the statement caused several members of the dark side to sweatdrop at the boys volatile nature while certain others who had already met the blond proceeded to chuckle at his obvious anger towards such a minor event.

"Oh yeah… I forgot you hated me for that," Kakashi said as he picked himself off the floor without any sign of injury, Naruto might have succeeded in bypassing his senses and scoring a direct hit but compared to Gai the boy hit like a feather… if that.

"That is quite enough Uzumaki, Kakashi-sempai is a great ninja and the student of Yondaime-sama, you should show him more respect," Tenzō stated as he looked at the blond, hoping that the boy would listen to him and start treating the fourth greatest man he ever knew with the respect he deserved.

"I'll show him respect when I get my mask, not before," the blond stated seriously, causing several in the room to stare at him with raised eyebrows as he had essentially said that until he was officially inaugurated as a member of black ops he wouldn't respect the man… it seemed like a very strange thing to say.

"Why is that? Why would being a fully fledged ANBU make me respectable?" the masked shinobi asked in curiosity, earning a snort from the blond.

"It wouldn't but if I'm wearing my mask I have to act like everyone else right?" the simple fact the blond seemed to realise this fact made everyone raise an eyebrow, the boy was supposed to be terrible in the knowledge department, honestly that would be the only reason there would be any trouble bringing him up to the ANBU standard.

"I see, so you're saying you'll never forgive me for trying to make you eat in a way that would stop you from becoming a short arse," no one could tell that the former Taichō was smirking underneath his mask, he was well aware of the blonds sensitivity about his height and the boy was obviously shaking in anger at the jibe.

"I swear, I will make you pay for that… that is a promise Hatake, that is a promise," the dark edge on the boys voice made it clear to the entire group that the youngest among them was serious, deadly serious and given how legendary the boys pranking abilities were they knew that one day Kakashi would be screwed over royally.

It was just a question of time and the child had plenty of that right now.

"That is enough Uzumaki, I realise you apparently have some form of personal vendetta against Kakashi-sempai but I believe it is time to start y our training for today," The wood user stated calmly to get the blonds attention focused on him as opposed to the one eyed Jōnin currently among them.

"Before that, when are you supposed to meet your genin team Inu-teme?" the blonds nickname for the man caused several people to giggle while others that were more status orientated simply let out a deep sigh of disbelief at the boys lack of manners.

"Um… that's a good question, I believe I told them to be at training ground three for seven o'clock," the one eyed ninja said with a straight face before Naruto gave him a blank stare, the blond hadn't even woken up till eight and that was over an hour ago.

"Then why aren't you with them right now?" the whiskered child asked with his eyebrow twitching a little at the fact the man was here and not where he was supposed to be.

"Because I decided to say hi to everyone here," Kakashi said without a hint of hesitation before noticing the blond do something that put everyone on edge and simultaneously caused several people to wonder if the blond had some minor skill in Fūinjutsu.

"Yo, Naruto, Kunai aren't supposed to be brought out in the common room," the familiar voice of Maneshi called out, earning a terrifying smile off the blond as he made his statement.

"Well if Inu-teme is making his team wait several hours then I don't think he deserves to have children do you?" the blue eyed boy said, causing all the ninja present to look at him in shock at the mere idea this child was thinking about castrating someone of Kakashi's fame.

"Mah, mah, it's not like there's a problem, all I've got is a moody avenger, a purple haired bully and a pinkette of all things," never before had anyone been subjected to Uzumaki Naruto's Killing Intent but it was obvious that the man had made a serious mistake when that was all that could be felt in the entire room.

"Sakura-chan is on your team… and you are making her get up just so you can be late? There is only one cure for that problem," and with that said Kakashi suddenly discovered why Naruto was second only to Sasuke in Kunai throwing and that was only because he had started off worse.

On the short run from his place in the common room to the exit the Jōnin found himself being impaled by exactly three kunai while four shallow cuts littered the rest of him… it did actually say quite a lot about the blonds accuracy with sharp implements, though he would've dodged them all if he had been serious.

But enough of that, he wouldn't get to see the blonds' stealth skills today and he really should make himself presentable before meeting his team, they could just wait a little longer and this time he had a good excuse for being late 'I was attacked and had to get myself cleaned up before arriving' would probably go over quite well, he just wondered how loud Sakura's shout of 'liar' would be.

Naruto had to admit, he had never known a shinobi like Kakashi before, seriously, how many shinobi are several hours late for a meeting they schedule?

Of course the rest of the ninja in the HQ just stared at him like he had grown another head, then again he had just shown the gall to attack a full Jōnin with nothing but kunai that he hid on his body… none of them could see any sign of kunai being hidden in his jacket and he didn't have a pouch to hold them either, of course Tenzō had already noted that the blond seemed to be an expert at concealment on top of stealth and accuracy.

"Uzumaki, I already said that it is time to start your training, now the first point of call is to ask you how many chakra control exercises you know," the dark eyed shinobi stated, deciding to put the previous events out of his mind, Kakashi didn't seem to mind the blonds actions so he would tolerate them.

"What's a chakra control exercise?" the sheer confusion contained within the blonds voice immediately made it clear that he had no clue about the very branch of techniques he was being asked about.

"A chakra control exercise is a technique used to allow you to use small and precise amounts of chakra, this will be essential for you to be capable of doing before I start teaching you how to augment your senses with chakra," Tenzō stated calmly, earning a look that indicated the blond was completely lost.

"What does augment mean?" the Mokuton user had to resist the urge to facepalm at the blonds question, he should've realised the boy didn't know what augmentation was.

"It means make stuff better," came an unfamiliar voice that immediately attracted the blonds attention.

The stranger was a young man with long hair the colour of moss tied into a ponytail and azure eyes that radiated warmth, just like every other person in the room he wore the standard issue ANBU armour but unlike the K.D.F. he did not have a tattoo on his arm.

Looking around the blond noticed that the people he knew as being K.D.F. all had the same tattoo on their upper right arm while those he knew to be members of black ops didn't… he supposed it was as an identifier for those that were there to protect the identities of black ops operatives.

"Thanks… uh, sorry what's your name?" the whiskered blond asked as he scratched the back of his head in a manner that made him recognisable.

"Kamisori Kenshin, codename Kamakiri," the stranger introduced himself calmly, earning a nod off the blond before the man continued, "specialist in assassination and distraction."

"Distraction?" was all that escaped the blonds mouth, he didn't understand why the man would be considered 'distraction'.

"There are times when a mission cannot be completed without drawing attention away from a certain area, distraction specialists are employed for that very purpose, Kenshin is an expert swordsman and by acting as a Ronin he is actually quite good at getting attention," Tenzō stated calmly earning a nod from the blond at that piece of information, "but that is enough chatting, you have to start learning how to control your chakra so we can work on your seriously lacking observation skills, as it stands your stealth relies too much on luck."

Hearing that piece of information the spiky haired child couldn't do anything more than look at the floor, he had always liked to think he was just that good but he did know that his stealth relied on the luck of others not appearing with him in their line of sight as opposed to skill.

Sure he could evade their ears and any chakra sense they had but if they saw him then he was practically doomed.

"First things first, the changing rooms are over there," the spiky haired ANBU instructor stated seriously pointing towards a door the blond hadn't checked behind the previous day, "there are sets of clothes for you in locker one hundred and twenty seven, get changed and meet me at the training area you took the second exam in."

"H-hai," was all Naruto said as he wondered why he would have to wear a change of clothes just for training.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto had to admit that the uniform that had been prepared for him was.. suspiciously correct in its measurements and stuck to his frame perfectly, being neither too tight or too loose. The young boy quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head, some things were better left unknown.

So here he was, dressed in a simple set of dark pants, a sleeveless turtleneck shirt and a fresh pair of sandals with dark tabi to keep his feet hidden. For a second he wondered about armour before remembering that the ANBU armour didn't look to hinder the ninja like Samurai armour did and that it would probably not be used for training.

Of course this was just speculation on his part, he didn't actually know anything about the training he would have to undergo while in ANBU but at least he would receive dedicated training tailored to suit his talents and that was what really made him happy… well outside of the fact that the ANBU members all seemed perfectly accepting of him so far but that didn't actually have anything to do with his training.

Making his way out of the locker room he was greeted by the sight of everyone going about their own business, Maneshi was sitting in the corner once again, probably working on his Fūinjutsu, Raida was reading his book and Kenshin was swirling a liquid around a glass before taking a gulp of it.

Naruto felt it was a little strange to see so few shinobi within the facility but his mind quickly came up with an answer, most of ANBU were probably KDF, which meant that they wouldn't be around HQ often. He did decide to ask Tenzō how many ANBU there were in total though.

It was without any hesitation that the blond walked through the room, ready to enter the back and find out what Tenzō was planning on teaching him first, given what he had heard the man say it was most likely going to be something really rather boring but useful.

With that thought his mind skimmed over a desire he had always possessed, he wanted to learn flashy jutsu but his decision had literally removed his chance of being taught them for at least a little while. He didn't if ANBU had anything against him learning bigger jutsu after completing his training but he knew that for the next six months he wouldn't get the time to practice anything.

It was almost painful to know that he would have to spend time around town instead of getting stronger just to keep up appearances as a civilian. That last part was really rather hard for him to digest, knowing that he was just a civilian now (at least officially), it meant that he really should try to get some civilian friends instead of just the ones that had become official ninja.

But in order to meet new people he would have to first find some way to get to know them and that would be the real problem. The only way he could think of getting to know more people would be if Mitsuki knew some people and would introduce him to them but that in itself would create a problem.

Despite the girl telling him about her past he didn't really know what to think about her, she was so prone to changing masks in the blink of an eye that he literally couldn't tell what she was thinking or how she would react to anything, something that might have resulted in her not having any friends outside of ANBU.

Shaking his head clear as he reached the door to the training area he had been told to meet the man that would be training him for the foreseeable future.

Upon entering he saw that the older man was leaning against a tree and waiting patiently for him to arrive, quickly gluing his eyes on the blonds form upon arrival.

"Now Uzumaki, since you seem to be unfamiliar with the term chakra control, I will explain it to you… as simply as I can," Tenzō stated with a small frown on his face as he noticed the nervousness on the blonds face, knowing from report s that getting something through the boys skull was a lesson in futility.

"Chakra control is about using the right amount of chakra for the job," the brown haired man told the boy as simply as he could before giving the boy a couple of examples, "for instance, if you use too much chakra to create a bunshin then it will fail, other jutsu will become stronger and weaker depending on how much chakra you put into it."

"Wait! Did you just say that a bunshin can fail because of putting too much chakra into it?" the whiskered blond asked quickly, earning a nod of confirmation from the older ninja that made the young boy scowl slightly at the implications.

"If I was you I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions, if you had passed the graduation exam normally then you would've never been considered for ANBU like you were," the taller of the duo stated calmly, which in turn made the blond consider the situation before giving in.

"Good, now since you are so clueless on the subject of chakra control I will give you a basic technique with which to work on it with," Tenzō told the blond causing the child's attention to immediately glue to him as he walked towards a tree and proceeded to walk up it, making the boy stare wide eyed at the feat he had initially thought was impossible, "this is a simple technique, all that is required is that you channel a certain amount of chakra to your feet, if you use too much it will push you off, if you use too little you won't stick, you may now begin."

Naruto couldn't help but blink a couple of times upon hearing his new instructor tell him to start before he proceeded to channel some chakra to his feet and start his first attempt at the exercise.

It didn't take long for him to discover that the exercise was harder than he had initially expected, what he had initially thought of as a small amount of chakra had immediately proven to be far too much for the exercise and even after an hour, he still hadn't managed to reduce his chakra output to a level where he wasn't being thrown off the tree after just a couple of steps.

It didn't help his confidence that Tenzō was simply looking at him all the time, his blank stare etching itself into the boys subconscious and distracting him just enough that he couldn't concentrate fully.

"That is enough Uzumaki," the dark haired ANBU said calmly, making the blond stare at him in confusion, "come with me."

"Hey! What do you mean that's enough? I've not been doing this that long have I?" the child shouted in confusion, making the older man look at him blankly.

"You have been working on this exercise for an hour, that is the full time allotted to this lesson," the more experienced ninja told the boy seriously, "now it is time for you to learn about anatomy."

Instantly the whiskered child froze, he was being forced to end this exercise just so he could be taught something like anatomy by the spiky haired elite. He hated the idea.

"Why the hell do I have to learn anatomy?! Isn't this more important than something like that?!" Naruto shouted with a hint of anger in his tone, something that the older ninja paid no heed to knowing that the boy was no real threat to him.

"This is ANBU, not the regular forces, we are required to possess far more knowledge than ordinary shinobi, anatomy is one of the more important subjects you are required to learn," Tenzō informed the boy calmly, making him look at the older man blankly.

"Why is anatomy so important huh? isn't it enough to just know there are places on the body that can kill a person for sure?" Naruto said as his mind wondered about the purpose of knowing anatomy.

"There are eight fatal points on the human body that the regular forces are supposed to know however us ANBU are required to have a far greater knowledge of human anatomy than that," the brown haired shinobi told the blond before letting out a sigh and turning his back to the boy, "I will explain the necessity of this knowledge during the lesson so stop wasting our time and follow me."

Upon hearing the older man give this order the blond couldn't stop himself from gritting his teeth in frustration, he wanted to continue learning the tree walking exercise, he hadn't even managed to make any real progress in his attempts and now he was being ordered to abandon it to do some annoying book learning.

Tenzō realised that the boy was annoyed at the current turn of events, obviously he wanted to continue working on the tree climbing exercise but he had prepared the schedule for a reason and he was determined to stick to it. Besides the fact that he was taking the boy out of the exercise would mean that he would have to get back into the groove the next time he tried it, which would in turn make it harder to learn.

That was actually an important factor as far as the fully fledged ANBU was concerned, if the exercise was being broken up then the boy would be forced to get to a point where he could effortlessly start from nothing once again, meaning that he wouldn't grow as rusty as he might if he practiced the exercise into the ground and then didn't use it for a long time, something that would be expected of him within the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.

Throughout the entire journey he refused to let the boy leave his sight, he knew from seeing the child run the second test that he could vanish before he even knew he was gone and given the reluctance the boy displayed towards learning academics, he had no doubt the boy would run if given half a chance.

He instantly heard the boy gulp nervously as they stopped outside the library, causing a smirk to grace the older man's face as he thought of just how uncomfortable the boy would be in the area dedicated to reading and learning.

Entering the library was less trouble than he had initially expected it to be, it would appear that the whiskered boy was resigned to the fact that he had to listen to his new teacher whether he liked it or not and had simply chosen to sit at a round desk while the KDF operative retrieved a single thick book titled 'advanced anatomy'.

He almost laughed at the look of sheer horror that appeared on the 'civilians' face upon seeing the size of the book before relaxing slightly when the official shinobi opened the book in front of himself.

"I suppose I should explain to you the reason for requiring this knowledge," Tenzō started, attracting the boys attention from the book to him, "unlike the regular forces, ANBU operatives are regularly required to not only dispose of corpses but analyse them in order to discover the secrets contained within the body."

"What do you mean secrets within the body?" the blue eyed boy asked in confusion, knowing nothing about how a secret could be hidden within a person , unless it was sealed of course.

"That is one of the reasons for this subject, you will learn how to determine when something unnatural has effected a body, whether it be unique medicine or special chakra types," the older ninja found it hard to stop the smirk that threatened to spread on his lips upon seeing the jinchūriki's horrified expression, "we will begin now."

Bursting into the social area Naruto couldn't stop himself from immediately walking up to the self service bar and picking up a whole bottle of Vodka which he immediately began to down much to the astonishment of everyone present.

Maneshi was the first to speak up about the event when Tenzō walked in after the boy with his usual expression on his face.

"Hey Tenzō! Why the hell's Naruto trying to comatose himself?" the bomb expert asked loudly with amusement clear in his voice.

"It would appear that he possesses a serious aversion to learning academics… it is unfortunate that they are necessary for ANBU," the mokuton user said with a small shake of his head.

"Well that sucks. So is he on his lunch break right now?" Maneshi asked the more experienced ANBU operative.

"That is correct, hopefully he'll survive drinking without too many adverse effects," Tenzō mentioned calmly, earning a snort off the explosives expert.

"Please… the kid drank more than that yesterday and was still completely sober," the slightly younger of the ninja said with a grin, earning a nod off the spiky haired instructor.

"I know, otherwise I would have stopped him already," the grin that stayed on the seal users face at that statement made it obvious that he found the older man's sentence amusing for some reason.

"So, how long do you think it'll take to get the kid up to scratch?" immediately the demolition man's expression turned serious as he watched the young boy start on his second bottle in an attempt to ease his headache.

"I don't know but I think it may take longer than allowed, his knowledge is both nonexistent and he has trouble learning facts to boot," the mokuton user admitted with a frown, the only good thing about the boy was that he didn't need to learn stealth or accuracy, everything else was a disaster that lacked the materials and manpower to recover within the six months allocated to bringing him up to speed.

"Have you considered accelerating his training once his chakra control is up to scratch?" immediately the stronger of the duo looked at the most talkative in the group with a serious stare.

"I have considered it but the effectiveness of the technique for accelerating his training will depend on how quickly he can learn it and how many he can create," the response was met with a simple nod from the slightly younger shinobi as he quickly understood what his senior was saying.

"Well, here's to hoping the kid can be brought up to speed before the six months are up… and that he leaves some booze for us," the young man said with a frown as he watched the blond attempt to open his third bottle of vodka only for Tenzō to quickly stop him after witnessing the boy slip a little, "damn, two litres of vodka in five minutes and he's only slightly tipsy, that kid has one hell of an iron stomach."

Naruto couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh of exasperation as he finally finished his 'training' for the day. He had to admit that he was annoyed at just how much he had been forced to read, he hated reading, he much preferred doing things, he actually learned stuff that way.

It certainly didn't help his attitude that he hadn't had any physical exercise since the one hour of tree climbing he had been given first thing in the morning. The main highlight of the day since then was learning that Raida was actually an incredible cook, not quite as good as Teuchi but then again he was biased towards that ramen stand.

His mind quickly moved towards something he had intended on asking the wood user earlier but had ended up forgetting about.

"Hey Tenzō!" he shouted, quickly noting that he had ended up forgetting to put an honorific after his name.

"What is it Naruto?" obviously the older man had no issues with the lack of formality given his response and the lack of displeasure on his face.

"I was meaning to ask you something but it kinda slipped my mind till now," the whiskered blond admitted, earning a small sigh off the shinobi, "anyway, I was just wondering if it would be possible for me to run the store a few days a week?"

"Absolutely not," the finality of the man's answer made the blond flinch slightly before he proceeded to retort.

"Why not? I could easily just put a kage bunshin up there to run it so I don't see why I can't do it a few days a week!" instantly the blond began to feel nervousness swell up in his being as Tenzō's face showed an emotion he had never expected to see on the older ANBU's face, surprise.

"Are you telling me you already know the Kage Bunshin no jutsu?" the dark eyed ninja asked with a hint of expectation clear in his voice.

"Y-yeah, it was the jutsu I learned that got Iruka-sensei to let me graduate," the 'civilian' said with a hint of concern in his voice courtesy of the look he was receiving off the older man.

"How many can you make before tiring?" the spiky haired man asked the boy seriously, hoping that the number would be more than two.

"Uh… I don't know," the whiskered blond admitted nervously as he saw the eyes of more than just his new sensei staring at him.

"How many have you made at once?" came a familiar voice, quickly getting the blond to look towards the entrance of the base and set his eyes upon the girl that had watched the shop both days he had been there.

"I'm not sure, I'd guess about one, two hundred," immediately he knew he had said something strange as every face in the room stared at him disbelievingly, excluding Raida who simply continued reading his book before speaking up.

"He has chakra reserves large enough to create five to seven hundred kage bunshin without going below the reserves of your average genin," instantly the room was filled with looks of horror, the mere idea of someone with such immense reserves being in black ops was unheard of.

Naruto quickly noticed Tenzō and Maneshi share a glance with each other before the blue eyed ANBU gave a grin to the older shinobi.

"Well then, that makes your training a lot easier than I thought it would be," Tenzō stated with a smile, confusing the blond in the process, "I will explain it to you tomorrow, for now, you have appearances to keep up. And do you remember the rule I told you before about leaving the base?"

"Yeah, yeah, I have to have a shower to get rid of any smells that may have gotten stuck to me," the young blond said, earning a nod of acceptance from his instructor.

"The shower room is located at the back of the locker room," the brown haired wood user informed the blond who quickly walked into the locker room.

Less than two minutes passed before the base was wracked by a shout of epic proportions.

"TENZŌ!"

"You forgot to tell him that it's mixed showering didn't you?" Mitsuki said with a blank stare directed towards the most experienced ninja in the room.

"I think you're right… does anyone know who he appears to have walked in on?" the wood user asked, earning a response from Kenshin.

"I believe the last person to walk into the locker room was Yūgao."

"That's a nice first sight for any shower," came a grinning statement from Maneshi as he proceeded to pour himself a drink, earning several blank stares off the other occupants of the room, "what? You can't say you don't agree with me."

"I can," came an emotionless call from beside him, making him lock eyes with Mitsuki.

"Just because you're jealous she's got a bigger bust than you doesn't mean we can't appreciate the 'bigger' pleasures in life," the explosives expert said before finding his head bouncing off the bar courtesy of a punch from the younger girl.

"Given that Naruto hasn't left the locker room to kill you yet, I think it's safe to assume to Yūgao explained the situation to him already… that is unless he's decided to get back at you when you least expect it," Kenshin proceeded to state while looking at the most experienced of the group.

"Yes, I'm expecting it to be the first of the two options," the mokuton user stated calmly, earning several eye rolls at the man's dismissive attitude concerning the child that had literally attacked one of the three strongest shinobi in the village over something as trivial as time keeping.

"Well, it's your health to risk," Maneshi proceeded to state calmly, causing the other ANBU to snort in amusement at the statement, some of them knew from experience how dangerous the child's pranks could get and could do nothing more than pity the poor fool that proceeded to attract the boys wrath.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto couldn't believe what Tenzō had done to?" him. Why the hell hadn't the man explained to him that it was mixed showering before telling him to have one? Fortunately Yūgao had proven to be rather accommodating and told him what the mokuton user had failed to do.

However the real problem he was facing now was trying to push the image of the purple haired Konoichi standing there with everything on display out of his head… and calm down his 'third leg'. He had never felt more embarrassed in his life, it didn't help that the woman paid no more attention to it than simply stating 'it is a perfectly natural reaction to seeing my body.'

Naruto knew that sooner or later he would get his revenge on Tenzō, though he was certain he would never be able to look at the beautiful woman the same again.

If he was honest he was relieved that the locker room had a second exit that bypassed the common room to prevent any smells from getting reattached to the operatives, of course this also meant that he could avoid seeing Yūgao for a little while at least.

Of course this also meant that he wouldn't have a chance to talk with Mitsuki about meeting any civilian friends she may have but then again that wasn't a top priority anyway. Still Naruto didn't feel the best as he walked out of the base and back into the store, this time however he left through the front door, after all now that he was going to officially be working there it didn't matter if he was seen leaving it after closing time.

Just as he walked out of the store he found himself getting stopped by a passing civilian who simply put a firm hand on his shoulder and gave him a small glare.

"And what exactly were you doing in there after closing time?" the middle aged man asked dangerously, it was obvious that the man didn't trust him and if he was perfectly honest he knew that it was his own fault, he had done so many pranks in his life that nobody trusted him to not cause trouble.

"Because I just finished my first day of training," the blond told the man bluntly knowing full well that the term training could mean anything were learning a new skill was involved. Of course this caught the man off guard and left him with a strange expression on his face, "haven't you heard, I've decided I'm not cut out to be a ninja and dropped out of the academy and the owner of this store has decided to hire me."

It took several minutes but the stranger finally managed to shake himself out of his shock before sending another glare at the young boy, "I don't believe you, you're just trying to worm your way out of this one aren't you?"

"Let me guess, you think I'm trying to pull a prank right?" the blond asked with a sigh as he proceeded to turn his head to face the Hokage monument, "did anyone stop to ask themselves why I chose to paint the Hokage monument in broad daylight?"

"You were just insulting all the Hokages that ruled over the village," the man said with an obvious loathing in his tone.

"Nah, they're all great ninja and they were my role models, all I was doing was making a statement," the whiskered blond said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "that I was giving up pranking."

"And you did that by defiling the Hokages statues?" the middle aged civilian asked sceptically.

"Nope, it wasn't about that, it was simply a matter that the entire village could see, I wanted to go out with a bang not a whimper," the blond admitted before looking down to the ground, "I also wanted to surpass them all but I've accepted that it'll never happen."

The older man was about to continue his argument when the front door of the store opened and a certain brunette walked out and locked the door behind her.

"Hey, I found this brat leaving your store after closing time," the middle aged man informed Mitsuki resulting in her turning around with a smile on her face.

"Well given that he now works here that's not really a surprise," she said with a small giggle, honestly Naruto found the difference in her demeanour rather disturbing. What really mattered however was the older man's reaction to the news, he couldn't actually believe that the blond had been telling the truth and it was clear on his face that it truly shocked him.

"Y-you mean he was actually telling the truth?" the older man asked dumbfounded, earning a curt nod off the young woman.

"See, will you let me go now?" Naruto said now that he had back up to support him in his claims. It only took a few moments for the man to release his hold on the boy and mutter a quiet apology before going on his way with a look of surprise plastered on his face at the revelation, "thanks Mitsuki-san."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure people will start to accept that you aren't up to mischief if you stop pulling pranks," the brown haired girl said in a far friendlier tone than he was used to, then again he knew that her current persona wasn't the real her, then again neither was the one he spoke to in the common room.

"Yeah, that should be easy enough, I was planning on quitting pranking anyway," the spiky haired youth told her calmly as they started walking along the street together.

"I'm sure the boss will be relieved to hear that," the green eyed girl said with a jovial tone, making the blond think for a second before realising who she was talking about.

"I don't consider vengeance a prank," he told her darkly earning a small giggle off the older girl.

"So I take it you intend on getting him sooner or later right?" Mitsuki asked him, earning a firm nod off the whiskered blond before he finally realised he had been walking with her without any clue of where he was actually going.

"So… are you going anywhere in particular?" the blond asked the older girl with a hint of nervousness at the possibility of him intruding on something she had planned.

"Yeah, a small barbeque place just off the main road, wanna come?" the short haired teen asked him with a small smile making the blond think for a few seconds, he had already had a ramen binge twice in two days so he decided that it wouldn't hurt to have a change.

"Sure, if you don't mind," the whiskered boy answered with a slightly subdued tone.

"If I did then I wouldn't have invited you," the emerald eyed girl told him with a smile. Naruto couldn't stop himself from inwardly frowning at her current persona, it reminded him far too much of himself when he saw her acting like she was happy, all the while keeping her eyes closed whenever she smiled, it was something he had done himself, to hide the pain in his eyes as he grinned at the world.

It was just another reminder that he didn't know the real Mitsuki, he didn't know what she was like underneath the warm or cold exterior, all he really knew about her was that she was far more damaged than he or even Sasuke were.

Unfortunately it showed on his face that his thoughts had been brought lower than normal and the young woman picked up on it rather quickly.

"What's wrong? You look upset," she asked him in a caring tone making him look up to the Hokage monument.

"Sorry, it's just that I always dreamed of becoming Hokage and now… now I'll no longer be able to have my face carved onto that mountain for everyone to see," Naruto told her knowing full well that she wouldn't believe that he was being honest but would catch the hint that it wasn't something that should be talked about in public.

"I'm sure you'll come to terms with it sooner or later," the brunette reassured him with another fake smile before turning a corner and pointing out the stand she was going to, "there it is, Akaniku barbeque, one of the best places for meat in Konoha."

Naruto really didn't know what to think of her enthusiasm towards the restaurant, he honestly thought it looked like any other food place in Konoha that wasn't Ichiraku's ramen. Then again if he didn't know about her issues then he probably wouldn't have questioned if her enthusiasm was genuine or not and it really quite disturbed him that she could be so hard to read.

"So are you ready to have your sandals blown off?!" Mitsuki asked him with a larger smile than normal though her eyes still remained closed, refusing him a window to her soul.

"Trust me, it won't be as good as Ichiraku's," the whiskered boy told her with a smirk, earning a competitive stare off the older girl.

"Wanna bet on it?" the smirk on her face as she said that made the blond smirk back at her.

"What are the terms?" he knew he would win, after all Ichiraku's was the best and nothing would get him to change his mind.

"How does this sound, you have to eat half of everything on the menu but if you eat any more or less I win," Mitsuki explained with a smirk gracing her lips and a predatory gleam in her eyes, "the loser has to pay the bill."

"Heh, bring it!" and with that declaration the duo entered the establishment with the intentions of winning a bet.

Yamanaka Ino wasn't exactly what you would call quiet, however right now she couldn't care less about using her voice. The reason for this? Her genin team. To think that Sakura had been put on a team with Sasuke and a guy that looked disturbingly like Sasuke that she had never seen before while she had been placed on a team with the laziest bastard in the academy and the fattest person in the academy.

It didn't help that her sensei was a lazy git that insisted they act as a team even when not on missions… meaning she had to go with them to a barbeque stand for lunch, it wouldn't have mattered so much if she wasn't on a diet and actually could eat with them but doing that would ruin the figure she had perfected to gain the attention of Sasuke.

Still, here she was walking alongside her worthless teammates towards a small restaurant called Akaniku barbeque just so she could sit around and watch Chōji stuff his face.

Her mind was distracted rather quickly after entering the place as she noticed a familiar orange jumpsuit and spiky blond hair. She quickly rolled her eyes at the boys choice of clothes, they stood out anywhere as far as she was concerned and would simply be the death of him if he ever graduated. However it didn't take long for her to notice that he had company, a young woman with short blond hair and green eyes that were staring at him nervously as he proceeded to eat.

Looking at the table she couldn't help but gape at the sheer quantity of half eaten platters that were littered across it, obviously being eaten and discarded by the whiskered blond as he pigged out on the barbeque. It was with gritted teeth that she walked over to the young boy, drawing the attention of the other three members of her team towards the sight.

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she almost shouted at him upon reaching the table, earning a questioning gaze off the boy as he turned to face her while eating a chicken drumstick.

"Hey Ino, what're you doing here?" he asked calmly as he looked at her furious gaze.

"Don't change the subject! Who is she and why are you scaring her like that?!" the loud blonde demanded, earning a small laugh off the whiskered boy.

"Oh sorry, this is Mitsuki and she's scared because she didn't expect me to be able to win our bet," Naruto explained to the young Konoichi.

"Huh? What bet?" Ino asked just as the rest of her team made it across.

"Well, Mitsuki bet that I wouldn't be able to eat half of everything on the menu without eating more or less, whoever loses has to pay the bill," Naruto explained to the other blue eyed blonde who simply looked on in surprise before scowling a little at something that occurred to her.

"So you mean to tell me that you're trying to make her pay the bill!" Naruto couldn't stop himself from staring at her blankly upon her conclusion.

"Not really, I just hate losing bets," Naruto admitted to her as Mitsuki stared at the scene in apparent confusion, though whether or not she really was confused was up for debate.

"Ano, I don't see what you're getting so worked up about, it's not like I wasn't prepared for this," the brown haired girl said quietly before looking away shyly, "though leaving all this food would be a waste wouldn't it?"

"I'm sure Chōji would be happy to finish it for me," Naruto told her with a smile, earning a couple of looks of gratitude from both Chōji and his sensei Asuma.

"But I bought it all for you," Mitsuki said quietly, though loud enough for them to hear.

"You hear that Naruto, Mitsuki-san bought it for you, not Chōji," the blonde Konoichi told Naruto with a glare.

"Ino… are you stupid? She's just trying to trick me into losing the bet," Naruto stated without a second thought, earning a few blinks of realisation from the other blond.

"Hehe, how's that, being called stupid by the deadlast must be rather humiliating eh Ino?" the chain smoker said with a grin as he looked at his student, earning a glare off her for pointing out such a thing.

"Shut up Asuma-sensei!" the young girl shouted at him angrily, earning nothing more than a placating gesture from the man that considered her wrath about as dangerous as a newborn puppy.

"Alright, anyway I think we should leave Naruto and his girlfriend alone," the bearded Jonin said jovially, earning a splutter off the two ANBU, "even if it was nice for Naruto to offer us the leftovers."

"The hell makes you think she's my girlfriend?!" Naruto asked indignantly, earning a blank stare off the older man.

"You're eating out with her and given that you're both an academy student and an orphan means there aren't many other possibilities," the older man's answer was logical given the incomplete information he possessed, however the blond decided to enlighten him a little.

"Actually I dropped out of the academy and got a job, Mitsuki is one of my colleagues," the spiky haired blond informed the group that had gathered around, earning shocked looks off two of them, a troublesome off one of them and a satisfied smirk off Ino.

"Well it's about time, you'd be completely useless as a ninja, I mean seriously how many people have failed the graduation exam three times?" the platinum blonde said quickly, completely ignorant of the other blonds growing anger until he snapped at her.

"Shut up! Do you think I like being reminded I'm useless?!" immediately the young girl reeled back in shock at the boy's demeanour, "I always wanted to become the Hokage and now I've been forced to accept that I'll never gain that title… so why don't you just shut up!"

Ino couldn't stop herself from feeling terrible at the current scenario, to think she had just gone and opened her mouth without thinking and managed to get Naruto to yell at her like that. It truly did make her feel horrible that she of all people had managed to make Naruto shout with actual hate in his voice.

"N-Naruto," she started in an attempt to apologise, only for the furious blond to cut her off.

"I said shut up!" the whiskered boy said angrily, making the blonde girl look down in shame, "how would you like it if Sasuke married Sakura? How would you like having your dream ripped right out of your fingers eh?"

Upon hearing that the young girl couldn't bring herself to lift her head, she had simply blurted out something so hurtful without even taking a second to think of how it would effect Naruto… realising that merely made her feel even worse.

Silence reigned for several seconds as the blond proceeded to calm himself down, mainly by forcing the fact he wasn't actually giving up into the front of his head.

"Hey, Mitsuki, sorry about this, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" he proceeded to say towards the short haired brunette, who simply rose from her own seat.

"You know, talking about a problem is usually the best way of dealing with it," she told him calmly before offering a smile, "just wait for a few minutes and I'll go with you okay?"

"Definitely more than just colleagues," Asuma muttered under his breath, though it wasn't loud enough to hear.

"Huh? You don't need to," the whiskered blond stated calmly, earning another smile off the young woman.

"I know but I want to," Mitsuki told him, earning a smile off Asuma courtesy of his misunderstanding.

Mitsuki had to admit, she wasn't expecting the blond to pay for half the meal despite winning their bet, of course she wasn't complaining but she wasn't expecting it either.

Of course reaching his apartment had taken a little longer than it should have for a shinobi but then again, they were black ops so using a ninja's method of travel wasn't exactly the wisest thing to do.

Still, upon entering Naruto's apartment she couldn't stop herself from letting out a sigh at the sad state it was in, sure it may have been acceptable for a shinobi but as far as civilians were concerned, it was a mess. A shinobi tended to spend most of their time outside of their apartment, pretty much only using it for the process of sleeping however a civilian was a different story altogether. Since civilians actually lived in their apartments it resulted in them taking more care of their homes than a shinobi did and right now Naruto's apartment was most certainly not a civilian home.

"So what were you really upset about earlier?" she asked him in a calmer tone than when they were in public but a warmer one than when they were at the HQ.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" the clueless boy asked her as he tried to think about what she could be talking about.

"Back when we were walking towards Akaniku's you looked down and when I asked you what was wrong you said it was just to do with not becoming a ninja, so what was the real reason?" the green eyed woman asked him seriously.

"Oh that, it's nothing you need to worry about," he responded quickly, earning a scrutinizing stare off the young woman as she tried to determine whether he was lying or not, eventually coming to the conclusion that he was both being honest and trying to avoid the subject.

"Well, even if it isn't something I need to worry about, it isn't healthy to keep things bottled up so feel free to tell me anyway," the brunette stated calmly before noticing the slight hint of nervousness in his features, providing her with another clue about what it could be about.

"Is it to do with how I act?" the look of shock on the whiskered boys face at her guess told her that she had hit the nail on the head, "so do you find my other persona's disturbing?"

"Wha? No, that's not it, I… I just don't know what to think about you that's all," Naruto admitted to the actress as she simply sat on one of the chairs at his table.

"What is it that makes deciding about me so difficult?" she asked him calmly, earning a nervous look off the boy, hoping that what he was about to say wouldn't offend her.

"The fact that I don't know the real you," immediately he noticed something wrong with the young woman as her stare dropped to the floor and silence took over the room for several minutes. It was just as he was about to open his mouth to apologise that she spoke in a hushed whisper that he barely caught.

"That's funny… no one has ever said that to me before," and with that she finally raised her head, shocking the blond in the process. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul and it was seeing the young woman's eyes that he truly understood what they meant. Her eyes looked so lifeless, so devastated that it was hard to accept that they were on a living human and to make matters even worse, the rest of her face looked as if she was simply waiting to die, "so what do you think now?"

Naruto couldn't bring himself to say anything, he had never seen such an expression on anyone's face and it honestly scaring him that anyone could live on in that state. He didn't know what it was he was feeling towards her right now but he knew this much, he didn't like it and didn't want her to stay like that.

Mitsuki couldn't stop herself from staring into space when the blond simply moved forward and wrapped her in a firm hug, it was not something she was expecting and without one of her persona's up, she had left herself defenceless against his action… it didn't take long for her to do something she hadn't done in several years.

Naruto didn't know what to do as the girl he had initially labelled as cruel and sadistic literally latched onto him and started sobbing into his jacket, however he soon found himself trying to stop himself from following suit. In the end though he couldn't stop himself from giving into the urge and letting his tears fall with a single thought going through his mind that he decided to share with the older girl.

"I promise, I'll find a way for you to be yourself more often."


	9. Chapter 9

Hyūga Hinata was tired. Then again she did wake up especially early just so she could get a glimpse of the one person that inspired her above all else. Sure he had failed the graduation exam but she knew that he wouldn't let that keep him down, it wasn't in his nature after all.

It had taken all of her courage just to come this far and her heart pounded in her chest as she walked towards his apartment in the hope that she would be able to bring herself to inform him that he had her support even if she had graduated and he hadn't. Then again in her mind that was the wrong way around, if anyone should've failed to graduate it should've been her, not Naruto.

Still the reality was that he had failed despite all the time and effort he had put into the class and Hinata wanted to at the very least console him on his loss.

Still there was no guarantee that she'd manage to maintain her courage and actually go through with the actions she wanted to perform, however in her mind it was the thought that mattered and even if she failed to pull through with her plan Naruto would (hopefully) still pick up on her feelings and be inspired to keep working regardless of this minor setback.

Drawing closer to the young boy's apartment her heart sped up even further at the prospect of seeing her idol outside of school and it was with a nervous gulp, she activated her family's kekkei genkai, the Byakugan, allowing her to see 359 degrees with extended range and the capacity to see through solid objects.

Almost immediately she wished she hadn't.

Her eyes showed her something she didn't want to see, something that utterly crushed her dreams, there in Naruto's room, lying beside him was a young woman sleeping with her head resting on his chest. Her mind didn't note the fact that they were both dressed or that their position was possible due to simply collapsing, all that mattered to Hinata was that there was a girl in Naruto's bed.

Her eyes began to water as her mind raced over the simple fact that Naruto had slept with a girl that she didn't even know about. She could've accepted it if it was Sakura, Naruto had made it quite clear that she drew his affection but the idea of being beaten by a woman that she had barely seen before was too much for her fragile little mind to deal with so she did the only thing that really made sense to her at that moment… she ran.

XXX XXX XXX

Mitsuki couldn't stop herself from feeling strange upon waking up, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had felt so well rested after a night's sleep. It didn't take her long to recall the events that led to her current situation, she had put her defences down at the behest of the newest recruit, she had never expected his response though. Everyone else that had seen her without one of her masks on had backed away and requested that she put her mask back up, her eyes were too disturbing for normal people to accept.

Naruto however had done the opposite, he had embraced her, given her a shoulder to cry on and made a vow that simply caught her further off guard. If she was right in her interpretation then Naruto wanted to help her get over her trauma and be herself again and he had already taken the first step, he had decided to be there for her.

She actually had to supress a laugh at the situation, Konoha's psychiatrists were required to keep themselves as detached as possible from their patients in order to protect themselves from the possibility of losing them, however that also meant that there were some people they couldn't help and she was one of those unfortunate individuals.

Yet here was a young boy, barely hitting puberty that had decided to take the risk of getting close to her and had already managed to remove a large weight from her heart.

So here she was, lying with her head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart as he continued to sleep, she wasn't surprised at their position, she remembered simply being completely exhausted as she sobbed into his chest the previous night… it actually brought a small smile to her face to think that she had actually managed to reach it despite the fact she was taller than him, then again out of everyone in ANBU only Naruto was shorter than her but he was five years younger than her.

Looking towards her kouhai's alarm clock, she quickly noted that it was nearly seven o'clock and they would have to be at HQ by half eight. Taking into account the fact that it was nearly a thirty minute walk (they were technically civilians so they had to walk like normal people) and she had a few things she wanted to speak with the boy about, she rose from his chest and started lightly pushing him.

"Naruto-san… Naruto-san, it's time to wake up," she said quietly with a small smile adorning her face as the blond proceeded to mumble before freezing. Obviously he didn't quite remember what had happened the previous night yet.

She had to stifle a giggle as he slowly turned his head to face her with his eyes wide open before he opened his mouth to ask her something before a look of realisation crossed onto his face.

"Heh, heh, hi..." the spiky haired youth said nervously, obviously uncertain of how to deal with the situation of waking up with someone for the first time in his life.

"Good morning, it's time to get up, I have some things I need to speak with you about," the brown haired girl told him in a tone that the younger boy had never heard before and he honestly couldn't interpret either.

"Uh…" despite the lack of hostility in the woman's voice, Naruto couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous about the current situation, namely because he wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about except that it probably wouldn't end well for him.

"You have until I've finished using your shower to get up, if you don't then I will hurt you," the green eyed operative told him blankly before getting off his bed and finding his bathroom.

"Oh crap…" was the only sentence that escaped his lips at his current situation.

XXX XXX XXX

Walking along the street towards the 'second hand junk shop' Naruto couldn't stop himself from feeling relieved. It turned out that all Mitsuki wanted to talk to him about was the state of his apartment being unfit for his cover as a civilian… she also asked him to keep quiet about the previous night, she had a reputation to keep after all.

It had actually been quite nice that she had decided to help him tidy up his apartment for a while, sure it wasn't perfect yet but it was significantly better than it was before she had decided to make him tidy it… though he was annoyed that she had thrown away his private training equipment (even if it wasn't particularly effective) though her explanation as to why had prevented him from trying to stop her, 'you aren't a shinobi anymore.'

Oh how he hated that cover, he wasn't a shinobi and had to act like a civilian all the time despite the fact that he was one of the elite ninja in Konoha. It still annoyed him that he wasn't allowed to let anyone know of his current status, who was he supposed to brag to if they weren't allowed to know?

He was interrupted from his musings upon reaching the entrance to the ANBU HQ, where Mitsuki quickly took a set of keys from her pocket and proceeded to unlock the front door, granting both of them entrance before the shop officially opened.

Walking into the establishment, Mitsuki turned to him and told him something rather simple, "I'm going to open the store, go on ahead."

Giving a simple nod of acceptance, the young blond proceeded to move through to the back where he quickly opened the vault and headed downstairs, prepping himself for whatever reading he would be forced to go through today.

Walking into the changing room and getting himself dressed in his new uniform, the blond walked out of the door and into the common room where he almost immediately blushed upon seeing a certain purple haired woman already sitting at a table sipping sake… that was before he sweatdropped at the fact that she was already drinking first thing in the morning.

"Mornin' Naruto, you're here a little early," Maneshi said as soon as he noticed the blond, earning a shrug from the boys shoulders.

"Mitsuki-san said I should arrive early to give the impression that I actually do work here," Naruto explained, earning a raised eyebrow from everyone in the room.

"Oh, why were you with Mitsuki? Is there something going on between you two that we don't know about?" the explosives expert asked with a grin, making the blond glare at his insinuation… even if it was correct.

"I was with Mitsuki because some ass started trying to interrogate me when I left the store last night, they thought I was pulling a prank and they wouldn't let me go until Mitsuki showed up and backed me up," the whiskered child stated with a look of annoyance on his face as he remembered that encounter.

"Ah, yeah, you've got quite the rep haven't you?" the seal user muttered loudly, earning a roll of Yūgao's eyes in the process.

"Saying he has a rep in Konoha is like saying Namikaze Minato was a little feared by Iwa," the purple haired woman stated bluntly, earning a sweatdrop from the man with grass coloured hair currently sitting in a corner of the room.

"That is a little extreme don't you think Yūgao?" Kenshin asked the woman earning a blank stare in response, "never mind."

Despite being an expert at creating a ruckus and getting outta there, Kenshin wasn't a match for a member of the KDF if they ever chose to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"Uh, here's a little question, how many people are in ANBU?" Naruto asked the group as he noted that he hadn't really seen that many operatives in all his time there.

"The KDF consists of a few hundred shinobi with high combat capacity while Black Ops usually consists of between ten and twenty specialists," Raida informed the blond calmly, earning a look of complete surprise off the spiky haired youth.

"What?! That's smaller than my entire class back at the academy!" Naruto shouted in shock at the revelation.

"Yes, however black ops are the true elite of Konoha, they are the ones who are trusted to complete their missions without fail and without causing unnecessary collateral," a familiar voice called from the door towards the training areas making the blond look towards the man he now called sensei.

"So I'm one of the elite elites, awesome!" Naruto practically shouted earning a sweatdrop from the rest.

"Not yet, however if you succeed in the first mission that has been suggested for you… then you will possibly one of the greatest ANBU of all time," Tenzō stated with absolute seriousness in his voice, making everyone in the room look at him in surprise.

"Really? They've already picked my first mission?!" Naruto was practically overflowing with excitement at the prospect before Tenzō decided to shoot him down.

"Not yet, the option was merely suggested after hearing of your talent in stealth, the risks of the mission going wrong may result in it being discarded completely," the mokuton user stated seriously, earning a blink of surprise from the blond.

"How serious a mission are we talking about Tenzō?" Yūgao asked firmly making the brown haired shinobi stare back at her with hollow eyes.

"To assassinate a Kage," that instantly knocked everyone speechless, no kage had ever been assassinated before, every last one had died as a result of battle against overwhelming odds, every assassination attempt in history had failed spectacularly and the Hokage was contemplating sending their newest recruit for the very same reason.(1)

"I… I don't get it, why would the old man want me to assassinate him?" Naruto asked, completely destroying the tension in the atmosphere.

"He said kill a Kage, not the Hokage," Maneshi deadpanned making the spiky haired youth blink in surprise.

"Huh? There's more than one kage?" Naruto's question made everyone's eyes widen before they cast sympathetic stares are the KDF member.

"There are five kages Naruto, they are the strongest ninja's in Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo and Kiri, they are considering having you assassinate the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure," Tenzō stated seriously, making the blond once again blink as he wondered how the hell he would defeat the strongest person in Iwa.

"So… I guess I'm really going to have to train my ass off huh?" the blond asked, earning a nod of confirmation from Tenzō before the blond proceeded to walk towards the training area, "well then, I'd better not waste any more time huh?"

The instant mood change that occurred in the blond surprised the rest of the group as they looked at the boy moving out of the common room for his training.

"He is probably misunderstanding the situation, I'll make it clear to him," the hazel eyed tutor stated to the rest before following the blond out of the room.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto was seriously scared. The mere knowledge that he may be expected to kill someone like his Jiji scared him. He wasn't a fool… sure he was stupid but he wasn't a fool, he realised that if he seriously fought against the Hokage he'd be beaten down like a gnat.

And here he'd just heard that he may be forced to, that truly scared him because he didn't know how he'd handle an opponent like that.

"Uzumaki," came a firm call from the spiky haired man, knocking the young boy out of his thoughts, "what happens to be the problem?" Sure Tenzō already knew what the problem was but he wanted to get the facts out of the blonds mouth directly.

"It's nothing," the blue eyed child said far too quickly to be honest, making the older shinobi sigh in minor annoyance.

"You're scared after hearing about the possibility for your first mission correct?" the shock on the blonds face at how simple it was to understand what was going through his head was almost amusing as far as the more experienced ninja was concerned, "if I know you correctly then the chances are you've misunderstood what I was saying."

"Huh?" was the only thing that managed to escape the blonds mouth when his sensei made that statement, honestly what was there to misunderstand?

"Am I right in thinking that you are no match for a Kage and can't believe that they'd someone as weak as you to kill one?" once again the blond expressed shock at being so easy to read, that is until he felt cold, sharp steel at his throat, "_that_ is how you are expected to kill a Kage, Hokage-sama will only send you on that mission _if_ he is confident you can complete it without being detected."

Almost immediately Naruto wanted to kick himself for being foolish enough to forget that he was in ANBU _because of his stealth skills_ and thinking something as stupid as fighting a Kage would be expected of him… then again he did still possess a child's mentality when it came to all things ninja, something that Tenzō would be sure to stamp out of the whiskered blond.

The blade held at his throat vanished in an instant only for Naruto to look behind himself to see nothing at all, confusing him in the process before he remembered, he had a jutsu that could do exactly the same thing, Kage Bunshin.

"Now that we've cleared up that little misunderstanding, let's go and improve your chakra control," the hazel eyed ninja stated earning a nod of confirmation and determination from the young jinchūriki.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto could only stare in shock at what his sensei had just told him. Kage bunshin could be used to accelerate his training. It was quite the shock for him and once again made him giddy at the fact that he had learned such a useful jutsu from the scroll.

And once again he deflated at the knowledge he couldn't tell his old friends about it… being in ANBU really sucked in that respect.

However right now all that mattered was completing the tree climbing exercise given to him by the more experienced ninja with the intent of completing it by the end of the day before moving on to the water walking exercise he had been told of by the very same instructor.

So it was because of his current state of determination that he didn't notice the look on Tenzō's face as he thought about the next stage of training he would place the young blond through.

Resistance training was not a pleasant experience for anyone and wasn't given to the regular forces because of the difference between the types of missions they were sent on and even more importantly, the difference in the village secrets they had access to.

Out of everyone in the village only the elders and the Hokage himself knew more secrets than ANBU operatives meaning that making sure they could keep those secrets a secret was an important matter as far as ANBU were concerned.

However that didn't stop the man from feeling bad about putting the child through the training. Especially given that he would probably have to undergo training from Mitsuki in order to fit back into the civilian populace after it given his age and lack of real world experience.

XXX XXX XXX

The day passed quickly for the whiskered jinchūriki as he discovered that using Kage Bunshin to learn the exercise really did help him improve significantly, actually getting him to the stage where surface walking was no harder than walking on the ground.

Of course he'd found that dispersing his bunshin altogether gave him quite the headache and what was his current solution to a headache? Copious amounts of Vodka.

"Damn Naruto, you're gonna drink us dry at this rate," Maneshi stated as he watched the blond downing another bottle of the spirit, it was his third and he was beginning to lose his sense of balance courtesy of his rate of consumption exceeded the speed that he burned it up, which given his advanced healing rate, was actually rather difficult.

"Besides, you really shouldn't drink so much, if you walk along the street reeking of alcohol people will probably become suspicious," Yūgao informed him before preventing him from taking another bottle.

"I blame you and Maneshi, I didn't even think about drinking until you two corrupted me," the whiskered boy stated with a blank face before yawning outwardly.

"Though I guess you have a point," the blue eyed ninja muttered as he thought about how hard it was for him to get drunk… and how much he needed to piss, "uh, hey, is there a toilet in here?"

"It's next to the showers," Raida said from his place reading his book which had recently changed from a large black covered volume to a small orange book he recognised as the same one the Hokage kept in his desk.

"Hey, what's that book you're reading?" Naruto asked the Hyūga as he tried to think of what he'd heard of the book in the street.

"Icha Icha Paradaisu," the pale eyed ANBU stated bluntly before turning a page.

"Hey… isn't that smut?" the whiskered child asked, earning a response off someone he wasn't expecting to answer him.

"That's what most people think because of who the author is," Yūgao stated calmly before she took a sip of her drink, making the blond blink, "however it is actually more of a comedy as opposed to smut."

"Though it isn't far off," Maneshi chirped in, making the Hyūga shrink into the sofa a little at the claim.

"So… who's the author?" the spiky haired youth ended up asking, earning a sigh off the purple haired Konoichi.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin, one of the biggest perverts I know of," the KDF member almost muttered as she tried to force herself to respect him for his skills as a ninja instead of his 'tic'.

"What's a Sannin?" at that question everyone in the room widened their eyes at the blonds obvious lack of knowledge.

"You've _really _got your work cut out if you don't even know that," the explosives expert muttered, making the blond blush at the fact the man made him sound stupid, then again, that wasn't exactly hard.

He would've retorted however by that point he was simply too desperate to empty his bladder to bother with anything else.

"Dammit I'll find out later," and with that he was gone from the common room and once again in the changing rooms.

"Well, I guess we've gotta tell Tenzō about this right?" the brown haired operative stated with a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Yeah… that boy is seriously lacking in the knowledge department," Kenshin said from his corner in the room.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from emitting a sigh of contentment as he let the warm water smash against his body in the shower as he prepared himself to leave the facility, though he would admit that he was spending more time here than he normally would… primarily to give his body some more time to breakdown all the alcohol he had ingested earlier.

He also couldn't stop himself from noting that outside of what had happened that morning he hadn't seen Mitsuki at all since arriving at the HQ, was it possible that she didn't come down for her lunch under the pretence of keeping herself free from the scent of her colleagues? It was a definite possibility as far as he could see and it would make sense.

Finally deciding that he'd spent long enough just standing around, he finally decided to pick up a bar of soap… until he heard the door open, prompting him to cover himself and look to see who had walked in on him.

He ended up letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing the perpetrator, it turned out it was just Tenzō and his heart rate slowed down as he came to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to have to deal with a body he couldn't stop himself reacting to.

"Are you finished with that soap?"

(1) at this point in time, it is unknown what happened to the Sandaime Kazekage


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto had to admit, it was rather strange to be eating with someone that wasn't Iruka-sensei or the old man while at Ichiraku's, however he also wouldn't deny that it wasn't an unpleasant experience.

"So you work at the place that hired Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked for confirmation, she had overheard the girl around the same age as her talking to her father but hadn't actually talked with the short haired girl yet.

"Yep, I've been working there for a couple of years now," came Mitsuki's chirpy response that made the pair of civilians smile slightly at the girls apparent similarity to their favourite customer.

While the others in the stand were talking, Naruto was thinking about something Tenzō had told him, that in seven days' time he was going to be undergoing a specific training regime for a week that would forbid him from being in the village during that time. The brown haired shinobi had given him the cover of him going out of the village to learn the art of buying from a nearby town, however that didn't change the fact the blond wanted to know exactly what the training would entail and the more experienced ANBU operative refused to give him a single hint.

However that didn't change the fact that he forced himself to act as if nothing was wrong, keeping himself at least mostly cheerful as he ate his fourth bowl of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet, the good part was that he would be capable of explaining his slight lack of cheer as simply still being upset about what he learned about being a ninja.

"So what's your relationship with Naruto-kun that makes you eat with him outside of work?" the young ramen waitress asked the brown haired black ops operative.

"I'm just trying to turn him into a respectable civilian, the damn academy doesn't teach children how to behave as anything but ninja," Mitsuki responded with a grin, earning another smile from the brown haired waitress.

"Then why aren't you starting with manners?" Naruto's big sister figure asked with a smirk, earning a grin off the similarly aged woman.

"Cause this place isn't classy," the actress stated, earning a mock gasp off Ayame in the process.

"You take that back!" Naruto couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes with a smile tugging at his lips as he watched his sister figure acting in mock indignation with one of his newest friends, he was actually quite happy that the pair seemed to get along as well as they did and weren't at each other's throats like they could've been.

"I don't think I will," the short haired secret ninja said with a grin clear on her face.

"Why you…" Ayame growled out with an obvious lack of actual aggression in her tone before the young blond decided to intervene.

"Now now, I don't want you two fighting like this, so why don't you kiss and make up?" the whiskered child said with a smile on his face, causing the ramen waitress to splutter at his words.

"I suppose we could, Ayame-san, please come over," Mitsuki said with a sweet voice that made shivers go down the spiky haired youths spine.

"Uh… I have to check our stock levels, yeah, bye bye!" the long haired girl said nervously before vanishing through the back of the stall with speed that rivalled shunshin.

Naruto could do nothing more than stare in disbelief at his workmate as she simply proceeded to continue eating her bowl, with the noticeable difference being her lack of a happy mask now that there was no one else in the stand.

"Uh… Mitsuki-san, were you serious about…" the whiskered blond started before finding it too difficult to continue due to the blush on his face at the thought that arose in his head.

"Kissing Ayame-san? Not really, though if she didn't run away I would've," the short haired brunette stated calmly before placing more noodles in her mouth.

"Wait? What?" the blue eyed civilian started only to find himself lacking the ability to form a coherent sentence.

"To people of our profession, sexuality is a hindrance as we are expected to act as bisexuals regardless of our personal preferences," the green eyed ANBU whispered barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Uh… does that include me?" the whiskered child asked hesitantly, earning a small grin off the girl.

"It's unlikely but not impossible," immediately the young Uzumaki grew sick at the idea of having to pretend to like a guy for a mission, he really did not want to undergo something like that.

"Let's change the topic," he said with a hint of desperation in his tone upon receiving the answer he didn't want from the more experienced ninja.

"Fine then, I take it miso ramen with roasted pork fillet is your favourite food," the young woman's statement immediately managed to take Naruto's mind out of its funk and back into pleasant territory.

"Damn right!" the blond was about to start a rant about the flavours when the other ANBU's expression retook its happy mask, making him look to see that Teuchi had come out from the back with a stern expression on his face.

"Mitsuki-san, I would appreciate it if you didn't try to molest my daughter," the normally kind ramen chef stated with an unusually stern expression adorning his face.

"I wasn't trying to molest Ayame-san, Naruto was the one that suggested we kiss and make up," the young woman stated calmly, effectively redirecting the older man's glare to the spiky haired youth.

"It was a joke, I didn't expect Mitsuki-san to actually try," Naruto responded while pointing a finger at his colleague, in turn redirecting Teuchi's glare back towards the more experienced ANBU.

"And if I was actually trying then she wouldn't have had a chance to escape," the green eyed woman said as the duo proceeded to stare at each other with blank expressions while completely ignoring the ramen chef.

"Now both of you stop that or I'll bar you from here," Teuchi stated seriously as he finally decided that he probably wouldn't get through to the duo in front of him and that he should just try and cut the losses now instead of letting things escalate further.

"Fine…" the moan that escaped the blond made a smirk appear on Mitsuki's face at the obvious way she could now blackmail him.

"Of course Teuchi-san," the brunette stated with a sweet voice and closed eyes, an expression that made Naruto rather nervous.

"Good, now eat up and buy lots more," and with that the older man went back through the back leaving the two assassins' alone in the stall.

"Well that was different, perhaps hanging out with you will be more entertaining than I initially expected," the green eyed woman said blankly, earning a sigh off the spiky haired youth.

"Does that mean you plan on following me every day?" the blue eyed Jinchūriki asked with a deadpan expression adorning his face.

"Maybe," she said with a small smile gracing her lips that surprised him at the sincerity he saw in it.

"Well, I guess I could have worse company," he decided to say with a toothy grin.

"Yeah… I know some people that would make you piss yourself," the way she said it caused the blond to give a nervous chuckle, "and you're definitely going to meet them soon."

"Really, well then I guess I should prepare myself for them right?" the spiky haired youth stated with his grin back on his face.

"If you can," and with that the duo returned to their meals as the spiky haired youth began to ponder who these people he would definitely meet would be.

XXX XXX XXX

The days passed quickly after that with him learning new things under the Mokuton user, such as how to walk on water, he was actually rather proud he managed to master that one in less than hour. He was still trying to master the art of enhancing his senses without blinding/deafening/choking on the sensory overload he suffered due to using too much chakra.

However the part that Naruto was most upset about was his anatomy lessons. Currently he had only managed to learn a few important points, namely the fatal points that littered it and a few nerve and blood vessel clusters that he was learning how to aim at for the purpose of stimulating a false death state in his enemies.

He had asked the older ninja the reason why he would want/need to know that and the answer he received was actually rather useful. Apparently there would be times when he would be expected to take someone alive and placing them in a false death state would make them easier to handle than if they were simply sealed since according to the KDF member, seals can be overpowered by enough chakra, but combined with the physical strain brought on by a false death state, such a thing would be significantly harder to achieve for the target.

Of course he wouldn't be so upset with his lack of progress on that subject if it wasn't for the simple fact that he was using a significantly large number of Kage Bunshin to assist him. The mere fact that it took him that much time to learn such a small amount of information really depressed him, he had been convinced that he would be capable of completing his training in record time due to the bunshin trick.

However he was finding that he needed it just to have the confidence he could complete the training within the six months that had been allocated for it.

He quickly shook his head clear of those thoughts as he splashed some water on his face to prepare himself for the rest of the day, he was still waiting for Tenzō to make a slip up and give him a way in which to get back at the man for the shower incident, he still wouldn't forgive the older ninja for not telling him it was mixed showering.

But that wasn't important right now, it was finally time for his special, week long training session and he was convicted to completing it with flying colours. It was with a grin adorning his face that he proceeded to leave his apartment, prepared for whatever the day would bring him.

And when it was all over, he would be having celebratory ramen with Mitsuki… well as long as he wasn't completely dead on his feet anyway.

Walking along the street was a different experience since he 'dropped out of the academy' and got a fulltime job, it was still strange for him to see the looks of indecision on the people's faces, obviously they didn't know what to think of his sudden decision or his lack of pranks. He was also certain they were probably confused about the fact that Konoha's Jinchūriki hadn't become a ninja, sure they didn't like the idea of him being a ninja but it was tradition for a jinchūriki to be used as a weapon and he was apparently nothing more than a regular civilian now.

Walking up to the second hand shop he brought a key out of his pockets and proceeded to unlock the door, providing him with access to the store that held the entrance to the ANBU HQ.

Going through to the back, he entered a small room that had no way to see inside without the Byakugan, then again that doujutsu was almost unblockable, not completely unblockable there was a single process that allowed an object to black out anything beyond it, it was what made the masks and cloaks ANBU wore capable of keeping their identities a secret from that clan.

Putting his hands in what had become his favourite handseal, the spiky haired youth proceeded to create a single solid copy of himself that immediately proceeded to walk out of the room and start preparing the store for opening while he headed towards the vault that housed his true workplace.

'6310081' he thought to himself as he proceeded to enter the new code, he'd initially been annoyed at the fact it had been changed, that is until he found out that the code was changed every week and cycled between ten different codes, at which point he proceeded to force himself to memorize the codes and their order of use.

It also explained how Hatake still knew the code to enter the base.

Walking down to the common room, he simply walked in and had a quick glance around, silently thanking whatever deity was watching over him that Yūgao wasn't there for him to blush at… again.

"Are you ready Uzumaki?" came a voice that he had grown intimately familiar with courtesy of the sheer number of times he had heard it.

"Hai Tenzō-sensei," the whiskered boy stated with conviction in his tone as he turned to face the man that had been teaching him for just over a week.

"Good, Mitsuki will take your bunshin out of the village when she arrives, however now it is time to show you the second entrance to this facility," the spiky haired wood user stated seriously, earning a set of wide eyes from the blond.

"Before that, get changed and put this on," the dark eyed man stated seriously as he handed the boy a dark cloak and a blank porcelain mask, "you will receive your true mask upon the decision of your codename, until then however you are simply 'recruit'."

"Hai Tenzō-sensei," the blue eyed boy stated as he felt a cold shiver run through his spine at the knowledge he would finally be wearing a mask, the physical evidence that he truly was in ANBU, even if it was one that lacked distinguishing features.

It didn't take long for the spiky haired youth to get changed, now wearing his training outfit underneath the mask and cloak while the standard issue scent neutralisers worked their magic and made him practically invisible to even an Inuzuka's nose.

Returning from the changing room, the boy was greeted by the now masked and cloaked KDF member, who gave him a simple nod of confirmation before he started walking towards a rather plain looking door that the young boy hadn't paid much attention to before, initially he had simply believed it was the female changing and shower rooms, though he hadn't thought about what it was after discovering it was mixed showering.

Following the significantly larger man through the arch, he was greeted by the sight of a long corridor that he could barely see the end of at the end he started at.

"This hallway leads to the 'public' entrance, whenever you are wearing your uniform you must enter and exit through this area," said the man wearing a cat mask with red crescent moons surrounding the eyes and black stripes pointing in from the edges.

"I see, where are we going anyway?" the young blond asked hoping that he would have some time to prepare for where he would be exiting.

"To an area underneath the Hokage's residence," the more experienced ninja stated calmly, earning a slight amount of surprise off his 'apprentice'.

"Really? That's pretty awesome, so what am I doing for my new training?" he asked hoping that the man would tell him now that he was nearly there anyway.

"You will learn soon enough," Naruto felt another cold shiver run down his spine, however this time it came from the hint of guilt that he could detect within the man's voice, he had never heard Tenzō speak like that before and it honestly scared him.

Opening the door on the other end, they were greeted by a bear of a man that wore a black trenchcoat over standard dark shinobi clothing while a pitch black bandana covered his head and held his Konoha hitae-ate in place. However what scared Naruto the most was the expression on his face, the scowl that bore past his mask and into his soul, one that burned with a hatred unlike anything he'd ever experienced before.

"Recruit, this is Morino Ibiki, he will be your instructor for the next week," the older ANBU stated seriously before turning back towards the door that Naruto noticed was locked by a similar lock to the one in the store.

"Huh? Wait, what do you mean by tha-" he tried to ask before the world turned black.

XXX XXX XXX

"Ow… my head," he muttered as he regained consciousness only to feel a massive force impact on his cheek and make him accidentally bite himself, "ah! What the-" again he found the impact striking his face, loosening a tooth as he tried to get his bearings.

"Wrong!" a firm, powerful and impossibly intimidating voice sounded upon the second hit, making Naruto open his eyes to see the man he had been introduced to standing there with a snarl on his face.

It was then that Naruto's mind registered the fact he was in a solid cell completely stripped of his clothing as barbed wire was wrapped around his limbs, holding him in place while simultaneously causing discomfort courtesy of the sharp barbs digging into his tender flesh.

His eyes widened in shock at his current predicament before he attempted to enhance his limbs with chakra, only to find that he couldn't feel it despite all his training in how to control the energy.

"What is your name?!" the venom contained within Ibiki's voice was enough to make Mizuki sound like Maneshi when trying to beat him in a drinking contest.

"Uzu-" once again he found a hand impacting with his face, successfully drawing blood this time, "wha-" once again he was rudely interrupted, this time by a fist impacting with his stomach, forcing his breath out of him while also disrupting his half-filled stomach and making him empty it via the ancient art of vomiting.

"I'll ask again, what is your name?!" the imposing figure demanded, earning a silent glare off the spiky haired youth, "better."

As soon as that word was uttered the blue eyed boy proceeded to find himself on the receiving end of several more punches, causing his skin to bruise and his mouth to bleed.

"What is your name?!" once again the man demanded an answer and once again the whiskered child simply glared at the man that had started beating him as part of his 'training'.

He was almost shocked out of his anger by the appearance of a viscous smirk on the man's lips, one that displayed pleasure at the prospect of inflicting pain on him.

"Did you know that it was Hokage-sama that permitted me to do this?" the smirk on the man's face sent chills down the spiky haired youths spine, "he gave you to me so I could break you, so that you would become a puppet for Konoha to use at its pleasure."

Naruto began to feel rage build up in him at this man's declaration, at the mere fact this man said that the Hokage ordered him to break him.

"You know don't you? Jinchūriki like you are good for nothing except placing on the battle field and letting them destroy everything in their path and once that's done… they are just an eye sore to everyone in the village," Ibiki stated, his infuriating grin still plastered on his face as he watched the rage building in the blond.

"You are just a weapon, an explosive that is to be conditioned to go off at the enemy forces before being stored away, out of sight and out of mind until it's needed again," Naruto couldn't stop himself from snarling at the man that was currently talking to him, "you are no different, Hokage-sama let you run around so freely because he wanted you to have something to lose… you are simply an expendable asset."

"When I get out of here… I'll kill you, you sick bastard," after finishing, Naruto found himself once again heaving as the bear of a man's fist impacted with his stomach.

"Yes, that's better, I like my victims with a bit of spunk," and with that the darkly dressed man stated with a sadistic grin, "I'll enjoy breaking you."

The next thing Naruto knew his mind was overcome by an excruciating pain as the sadistic torturer proceeded to dig his shoe into his groin, grinding his heel all the while grinning like a madman at the agony that spread across the blonds face.

"Yes, I really will enjoy breaking you down and spitting you out little man," the glare that he received in response simply made him smile wider as he wondered how he could push the boy before having to trade with Anko.

All he knew was that he would start having fun once he had gotten the basic stuff out of the way and got down to his actual specialty.


	11. Chapter 11

There had been times in the life of Uzumaki Naruto when he didn't feel particularly good, most of those times had been when everyone laughed at him for failing whatever they were doing at the academy, however now he knew what the phrase 'I feel like shit' meant.

His vision was bleary, his head was pounding and he couldn't concentrate on anything as he questioned whether he was asleep or awake, or even if he had died and not realised it. He knew he had been the subject of torture, he had felt the kunai as they dug into his flesh, he had been awake when they systematically tore apart his psyche, yet he refused to give up... he would not let them win.

That bear of a man he couldn't remember the name of, that vicious woman with the beige trenchcoat and the man that reminded him of Ino, they had all hurt him, they had all smiled as they tried to make him despair, they all laughed at his denial of their statements concerning the Hokage... they had all enjoyed breaking him apart.

At least that's what he thought at the beginning. however the longer it went on and the more they subjected him to, the more their eyes showed an emotion that he hadn't noticed at first... regret.

They regretted doing what they were, despite smiling at laughing at everything they put him through, those smiles never reached their eyes.

That was what allowed him to finally realise what his training was, it was that that let him realise he was being prepared for actual torture, taught how to keep his mouth shut and not allow the enemy to discover any of the information he would no doubt be trusted with.

So while his hatred of them had died, it didn't change the fact that he was currently about as close to dying as a person could be without being in critical condition, something that hadn't been helped by the fact he hadn't been allowed to sleep since his arrival or the poison that was put into his blood stream by the purple haired woman.

He couldn't tell how long he'd been there, he couldn't even remember how many times he had met each of the interrogators/torturers, all he knew was that he was exhausted, cold, hungry and thirsty. That and it was dark... but that was about it, he couldn't even tell if there was anyone in the room with him right now.

Of course he knew that if there wasn't then one of them would be soon and they would wake him up in a harsh manner if he did nod off... they did every other time after all.

His ears picked up on a noise, it sounded like voices but he wasn't certain, whether the sound was people talking or not, his mind couldn't process anything that would be said, it was just as his eyes picked up on a light appearing before him that he finally lost his ability to remain conscious.

XXX XXX XXX

Light, that was the first thing Naruto's mind registered as he slowly began to regain consciousness, the second thing that his mind registered was the fact that there was someone looking at him.

"So, you're awake," came what had become a rather familiar voice over the past couple of weeks, "come on, you need to sit up."

He noticed the delicate hand that placed itself at the back of his neck to assist him in sitting up before a glass of water was placed at his lips. Without so much as a second thought he proceeded to start gulping down the cool liquid, instantly feeling better as his parched throat was soothed by the life giving fluid.

Finishing the glass, Naruto simply closed his eyes before asking a simple question to the person in the room with him.

"Why are you here Mitsuki? I remember you taking my bunshin out of town so why are you back?" his question was simple and the response he got in return was clear.

"All members of Black Ops are taught how to enter and leave the village without anyone knowing, right now only members of ANBU, the council and Hokage-sama know I'm in the village," she explained to him before continuing, "as for why I'm here with you, it is standard policy for someone to stay with anyone that has just undergone resistance training, normally the initiates instructor is the one to greet them upon awakening, however Tenzō decided that since I'm closer to you than he is, it would probably be better if I was the one you woke up to."

"I see…" those words left his mouth easily before he proceeded to lay back down, letting his exhausted body rest a little before making his next statement, "so I take it I'm right thinking that those people didn't enjoy torturing me."

"Yeah, you should've heard them when they brought you here, Anko-sempai actually said she was almost sick doing what she did to, I quote 'what is practically a Konoha Genin'," her voice was even throughout her statement, just what he expected from the dark haired woman.

"I… see," he managed to say before feeling a strange sensation in a small spot on his arm. Opening one of his eyes, he looked towards the area he felt strange, almost immediately noticing that there was a tube sticking out of him.

"You have been on an intravenous drip since you lost consciousness, you went three days without food, water or rest so the iryō-nin in charge of overseeing black ops members decided to put some nutrients and liquid into your blood directly," Mitsuki stated from his side, obviously noticing the small amount of confusion that had slipped onto his face upon seeing the tube, "however now that you're awake, you can start eating and drinking properly, I've even managed to procure a few cups of instant ramen for your enjoyment."

Almost instantly the whiskered boys eyes lit up at the promise of his favourite food, even if it was only the instant variant and not Ichiraku's, ramen was ramen and right now that is all that mattered to him.

After removing the tube from the boys arm, the young woman proceeded to leave his side, taking the glass with her as she proceeded to refill the glass and start boiling a pot of water, allowing the blue eyed boys eyes to wander the room.

It looked sterile, lots of light and white decorated the room, while four beds lay parallel to each other and a series of worktops, including one that seemed to act as a kitchen, which was where the slightly older girl was currently located.

Of course all that did was confirm for him where he was, it was the medical room in the ANBU HQ, he had only looked at it once since he hadn't expected to be confined to it at any point. Yeah, wishful thinking at its finest.

"Here you go, eat up but take your time, your stomach will probably react violently to begin with," the dark haired woman stated seriously as she passed him a cup of instant ramen and a glass of water.

"Thank you," he managed to get out as he took the fork she had given him with the cup of ramen and proceeded to start eating. Normally he would use chopsticks, however right now, he didn't think he had the energy or coordination to successfully utilize his preferred eating implement.

For the next hour, all that could be heard was the quiet slurping of noodles as the whiskered ANBU proceeded to slowly consume the cheap food he was being supplied, he was aware that technically he should be eating something fuller than ramen but right now he wasn't concerned about what he needed, preferring to simply think of the noodles he hadn't been capable of having since he was passed into that bear of a man's care… he still couldn't remember the man's name after his stint of being a human practice dummy for every torture and interrogation technique available outside of mind walking.

By the time he had finished all the cups his senior made him, he found that he was no longer feeling as terrible as he did when he woke up, quickly chalking it up to the Kyūbi's influence healing him now that he had some form of sustenance.

"Mitsuki, how long was I asleep?" he asked as his mind began to start functioning in a more normal manner, allowing him to look at the woman and take note of her calmly analysing him as she started talking.

"Approximately eighteen hours. As I said before you were placed on an intravenous drip to ensure you didn't die of dehydration, though to be fair Anko, Ibiki and Inoichi did monitor your condition to ensure you didn't actually die under their care," she informed him in her usual tone, earning a nod of acceptance from the blond.

"I see," he began to feel annoyed at just how often he had said that since he had woken up, surely he could come up with something cooler, he was Uzumaki Naruto for crying out loud! "so how did I do?"

"According to Ibiki you passed, though you had a rocky start," she explained to him calmly.

"I guess you could say that…" he nearly cringed at his inability to make light of the situation despite his efforts, then again he still wasn't at one hundred percent and even though he was certainly feeling better it didn't change one simple fact… he had literally just woken up after a seventy two hour long torture session.

That thought made his brow furrow, was such a method normal for recruits?

"Mitsuki, do recruits normally get tortured and starved for three days?" he asked the short haired assassin, who proceeded to let out a sigh of resignation at his question.

"Normally, a recruit isn't starved, deprived of water or sleep, however because of your healing factor and stamina, it was decided that you needed a more severe approach than normal," she informed him with her eyes closed, making him look away from her, "however do not forget that it was Hokage-sama that authorised these methods and according to Tenzō, he only allowed them because he believed you were strong enough to make it through the training."

Upon hearing that, Naruto couldn't help but feel much better, not because he suffered worse than others but because the old man had believed in him and decided to push him to breaking point realising that he wouldn't snap, that knowledge alone was enough to put a smile on his whiskered face.

"Don't smile so early, your training hasn't finished yet," the statement instantly made Naruto's face take on a stony expression, one that Mitsuki instantly realised had been created within the past four days… an expression created by being subjected to the art of torture and refusing to break.

"So how long will my next session last?" he asked in a colder voice than was normal for him as he thought of how hard it would be to last another three day session with T&I.

"Ten minutes at most," upon hearing that his blue eyes narrowed in suspicion, he knew that Tenzō had had him set aside a week for this training and so far he had spent approximately four of those seven days either getting tortured or recovering, now he was only expected to take ten minutes for his next session.

His mind focused on the fact that he would end up having three days left after this next session of training, meaning it was likely that there would be even more sessions after that.

"So, are you ready for the next session?" the green eyed girl asked him seriously, earning a sharp nod off the blond, sure he still wasn't in top shape but if his workmate was asking him, it meant he didn't need to be in perfect condition for the next part… besides it should only take ten minutes according to her, "alright then, wait here, I'll inform Tenzō that you're awake and ready."

Naruto didn't bother doing anything except focusing on what this next session could possibly be. He had already been exposed to some incredibly cruel methods of inflicting pain, some of which he was certain would haunt his nightmares for years to come, however this next session was probably going to be something either nowhere near that level of cruelty, or something so horrible they couldn't inflict it on him for more than ten minutes.

He was personally hoping for the first.

Letting out a yawn as he continued to sit up in the bed, he waited for instructions on what he would be doing next, which is exactly what he received in the form of his spiky haired instructor entering the room with a bundle of clothes in his arms.

"Uzumaki," the dark eyed KDF member stated his name sharply, earning a focused gaze off the young blond before he placed a uniform, complete with cloak and blank mask, on the bed, "get changed and meet me in T&I for your next portion of training."

"Hai, Tenzō-sensei," came the whiskered blonds reply before the dark haired ANBU left the room and allowed the boy to change into the very same uniform he had last worn.

His heart rate rose as he left the medical ward, passing through the base, taking note of the fact that everyone seemed to be ignoring him right now, then again, right now he was far more concerned about the fact that his training wasn't over and he still wasn't feeling anywhere near ten percent, let alone one hundred percent.

So it actually worked out for him, he definitely didn't feel like talking to too many people right now, he just wanted to get the training over with as soon as possible and finish his recovery so he could be in good health when he returned to society.

His mind began to race as he was led back through the corridor to T&I, he had hoped he wouldn't have to go there again, especially so soon but in the end, it appeared that whatever the next portion of training was, would once again be held in that area.

Walking out of the corridor, he was greeted by the sight of a young woman with dark purple hair tied into a short and spiky ponytail (that he immediately thought looked like a pineapple, just like Iruka and Shikamaru), her eyes were a light brown and lacked any form of pupil (something that really drew the blonds attention for some reason) and had a Konoha hitae-ate wrapped around her forehead.

The part that really stood out to him was the tan trenchcoat, he recognised it from his time being tortured and immediately realised that this woman was one of the people that had made him suffer.

He tried to hold back a shiver, he really did but in the end he simply wasn't good enough and found himself letting out an involuntary shudder at her presence.

"Uzumaki, this is Mitarashi Anko and she will be assisting in your next portion of training," he heard Tenzō say with his usual commanding tone, making the boy tense as he prepared himself to once again be knocked unconscious by his teacher.

"Come on gaki, follow me," the purple haired woman stated, knocking the whiskered child out of his state, only to blink a few times as he saw the two older ninja walk away from him.

"Hurry up Uzumaki," the wood user said calmly, making the blond walk forward as fast as he could given his condition, which really wasn't that fast.

Following the two he was soon standing before a nondescript door, labelled 'Interrogation Room 6', something that immediately made him feel a sense of foreboding.

"A few days ago we found a spy within the village," the woman named Anko started, earning a look of concentration off the blond, "we've already managed to extract all the information we need from them and as such… all that is left is for them to be executed, that's where you come in."

Naruto suddenly had to stop himself from gulping in nervousness, he would have to kill someone that couldn't fight back? He didn't know if he could bring himself to do something like that.

"The reason we are doing this is simple," the brown haired ANBU stated seriously, drawing the blonds attention, "normally those that are recruited into ANBU have already killed a large number of people and grown desensitised to the action through combat, you however are clean of blood despite the fact you are being brought into the organisation as an assassin."

It didn't take long for the blond to understand what they meant, so it was with a resolute nod that he accepted the situation, upon which he was led through the door… and immediately froze.

His mind stopped processing anything, his heart stopped beating, his lung stopped pumping, time seemed to stand still as he looked at the person in the chair, as he lay his eyes on the waist length, pink hair he had long since grown attracted to.

The world started moving again as his mind tried to understand what he was seeing, why was Sakura in the chair? How could she possibly be a spy? Why were they wanting him to kill her?

"Go ahead recruit, it is time to prove your loyalty to Konoha," he heard Tenzō's calm voice cut through the air like a white hot knife through heated butter, causing his head to turn to face the man.

"W-why? Why is she here?" he asked in a weak voice, unable to bring himself to feel anything other than dread at the current circumstances.

"We already told ya gaki, she's a spy and must be dealt with accordingly," Anko said with a carefree tone that made the blond freeze again.

"N-no… there must be some mistake!" the spiky haired youth shouted desperately, there were very few people he cared for and Sakura was one of the most important in his eyes, the mere thought of ending her life was… agonising to say the least.

"There is no mistake, she is a spy and will be dealt with accordingly," the oldest of the group stated seriously, making the blond flinch at the statement, "now you have a choice, either kill her and make the death swift and painless, or you will be removed from the ANBU program, have your memories adjusted by the head of the Yamanaka clan and made to live the rest of your life as a civilian."

Once again Naruto froze, he would lose his place in the entire shinobi system if he refused? That was something that he couldn't accept, he couldn't just sit back and let himself actually become a civilian, he had joined ANBU to ensure his place within the shinobi ranks, even if he officially had no place within them.

But at the same time they were demanding that he murder the girl he liked the most because she was apparently a spy? He didn't like that one bit, why did he have to kill her? Why him of all people? Why did she have to be a spy?

His mind acknowledged one thing, no matter what he said, she would die, it was simply a question of whether he would kill her, or would someone else? If he didn't, then there was no guarantee it would be a quick death and to top it off, he would be rendered a civilian, his dream would be torn from him with nothing to show for it.

In the end, there was only really one choice.

He didn't like it but it was the only one he could make.

Grabbing a hold of a razor sharp kunai, the blond slowly walked towards the pink haired girl, flinching at the sheer fear contained with her eyes as her words were muffled by the gag shoved into her mouth.

"I'm truly sorry, Sakura-chan," he said in a hushed whisper as he placed the point of the blade on her neck as he grabbed her head to hold it in place before he proceeded to slice strait through the supple flesh, causing several spurts of red liquid to hit his mask, not that he knew, he had closed his eyes as soon as he pulled back the weapon for the kill.

Falling to his knees, the blond couldn't stop the tears swelling in his eyes as he tried to rationalize that it was the only choice, he tried to use that knowledge to make himself feel better, not that it worked.

"Good work recruit, you aimed for one of the eight vital points to ensure the target died, even if you were obviously hesitant," he heard Tenzō state calmly, praising him on following what he had learned from the anatomy class.

"Yeah, I didn't know if you'd have it in you to go through with it but looks like you did," his mind didn't focus on what the purple haired woman said instead he simply knelt there, his mind focused on the simple fact that he of all people, had killed Sakura, "still, looks like it's over huh Tenzō?"

"Indeed, now open your eyes Uzumaki," the spiky haired man demanded seriously. Despite his feelings on the matter, the fact was that right now Tenzō was his commanding officer and he had to learn how to obey the man, so it was with great pain that he reopened his eyes, upon which his mind froze once more.

There right in front of his eyes, in the very chair and with the very cut he had given her, was someone that was most definitely _not_ Sakura. Instead there was a young girl with short, brown hair and lifeless blue eyes sitting before him, the most important part however, was the Iwa hitae-ate adorning her forehead.

"W-what? W-who is that?" were the only words that managed to escape his lips as he looked at the unknown person, he had been certain that he had sliced Sakura's throat, not this girls.

"She was an Iwa genin that wandered too far across the border of Hi no Kuni a few weeks ago," Tenzō informed him seriously, "it is common knowledge that wandering into an enemy villages territory is likely to get you killed, which is why the Tsuchikage will not retaliate for her disappearance."

"B-but I thought…" Naruto started but couldn't bring himself to finish.

"That she was Haruno Sakura from your old academy class?" Anko finished for him, earning his undivided attention, "that was just a henge forcibly applied to them so you'd think she was, we needed to see if you would be prepared to kill _anyone_ for the good of the village."

"And you proved that you could, now get up, you have three more days of training before your return to the streets," and with that, the blond saw the mokuton user walk away before feeling a firm grip help him to his feet.

"Well, off ya go, I might not see you again but ya never know splatter face," the brown eyed woman told him with a grin, causing him to put his hand to his face and discover the blood that had stained it.

"Heh, guess I'm not just a blank slate anymore huh?" he muttered to himself before facing the young girl he had killed and finally realising what he had gotten himself into.

He was an assassin not a soldier, he didn't fight, he murdered, his enemies wouldn't fight back, he only had one justification for his actions _'they're my orders'_.

And with those thoughts on his mind he left the cell, feeling sicker than he had ever felt before.


	12. Chapter 12

Within the confines of the ANBU HQ, Naruto sat with a vacant look on his face as he rapidly downed shot after shot of the strongest spirits he could find in the bar.

Of course his actions were easily noticed by the others in the room, however they all knew that he probably needed some time alone to think over his previous training.

The very nature of the training had been of an intensity that he had never expected to be subjected to and the worst part was that it was all mentally draining as opposed to physically challenging.

He could've easily handled any physical training and got back up with his usual gusto but being tortured for three days straight and then forced to kill the girl you had a crush on for years was completely different to anything he had thought would happen during the six months of ANBU training he was getting.

Despite everything though, there was one thing that kept forcing itself to the front of his mind… he had been prepared to kill Sakura because he was ordered to. Sure it hadn't actually been Sakura but he didn't know that at the time and had still made his decision and slit her throat even if it tore him apart inside.

Even when he found out that his victim wasn't Sakura, he still knew he had done something horrible. It wasn't like he thought it would be during the academy, he had always expected to get into epic battles that reshaped the landscape, throwing around jutsu and facing off against an opponent that would push him to his limits… but instead he had not simply killed in the heat of battle, he had performed an execution.

His victim had been defenceless and only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time… and he had ended her life with a single stroke of a blade.

And he would be expected to do it again on a regular basis, he had been inducted as an assassin after all.

He barely registered the hand that softly gripped his shoulder as he instead continued to stare at his drink, though that didn't stop him from figuring out who it was that had decided to comfort him first… if he hadn't been so depressed he would've probably chuckled at the fact that the first person to try and help him was the one person he least expected to ever get along with when he first met them.

He didn't say anything as he threw back another shot of vodka before refilling his glass again. The person sitting next to him kept their hand on his shoulder, not saying anything but letting him know that they were there if he wanted any support.

"Does it ever get any easier?" the blond finally asked his company after half an hour, earning a sigh off the woman that had sat by him all that time.

"Normally a ninja learns to push aside the guilt, knowing that what they are doing is protecting their comrades," Mitsuki started before taking a glass for herself, "however, black ops tend to die a little with each assassination, with each life they take they lose a bit of their humanity until they are nothing more than a weapon capable of killing without any feelings."

"Because the enemy doesn't fight back?" the whiskered child half asked, mostly for confirmation.

"Yes," the brown haired ninja admitted calmly, "in the regular forces, your first kill will almost always be in one of two situations, either battle, or the enemy will be a bandit that does nothing but harm others… in those cases you can justify your actions as necessary to protect others, here though… here none of that will happen."

"Every assassination black ops operatives undertake is for purely political reasons, it is never a matter of killing someone to protect the village or save others, every kill you make will be for either money or power that you will never see," she stated with a solemn tone.

"Why? Why don't we get any missions that do good?" the blue eyed child asked in a tone that made it clear he was close to breaking down right then and there.

"Because they're legal," came the blunt response, "and legal missions can be justified with the daimyo's and even if it goes against other countries, they can be justified as necessary for the protection of the country. Black ops only deal with the missions that go against the laws set down by the daimyo's… that is the reason for our existence and why we don't get tattoos or any other marks to signify us as belonging to either the village or ANBU."

"So they can deny our existence if we get caught?" the young blond asked, finally realising the seriousness of what he was now a part of.

"Yes, even if we're traced back to Konoha, without proof of our status we can simply be accused of stealing ANBU gear and taking things into our own hands without authorization from the Hokage," she stated with her currently solemn tone, "as it is said, to be in black ops is to be a tool that can and will be discarded if the need ever arises."

"And that should never happen since we should have already destroyed our bodies if it looks like we won't escape," the whiskered child stated, remembering one of Tenzō's more recent lessons, that an ANBU that fails is required to use a special jutsu to destroy their body, he even showed the blond how to perform it and had his Kage Bunshin practice the skill to make sure he could pull it off.

"Yes," was all the response he got.

Naruto couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh as he simply thought about what had just been discussed and came to one single conclusion, that there was no comfort in black ops. There was no being told that you had done the right thing, no hearing praises for your actions and nothing to comfort you in a job well done.

It honestly made him feel a little sick. The thought that he would be performing illegal missions and killing people that didn't necessarily deserve it sunk into his mind with little resistance.

Feeling the grip on his shoulder tighten, he turned to see the short haired woman give him a look he had only seen once before, one that was devoid of life and wrought with devastation… it was the real her under her many facades.

"Come on, we can start the next stage of your training over dinner," she stated before getting up and immediately he noticed the difference in her demeanour, gone was the face she rarely wore and back was the mask he had gotten his first impression of her from… the cold and unfeeling one.

Of course now he knew that it was just that, a mask, a persona she took on to face her colleagues. So without hesitation or preamble, he finished his last shot before rising from the stool and following her through the common room and into the corridor leading towards the training areas.

"Damn… Naruto really did look out of it didn't he?" Maneshi said once the duo had left, obviously he had only kept his mouth shut in order to allow the blond a chance to think.

"It was his first kill, that's to be expected under ordinary circumstances, let alone the ones this one were performed under," Yūgao stated from her position at another table, clearly drinking in a manner similar to the blond but without the speed or depression to it.

"Well I guess killing someone when they are both innocent and can't fight back is a hell of a lot harder to cope with than simply killing them in combat," the seal user admitted as he continued to work on one of his explosive seals.

"That wasn't the worst part," the purple haired Konoichi stated, earning the attention of everyone in the room, "his victim was henged to look like the girl he has had a crush on for several years."

Instantly everyone look at her with wide eyes at that piece of information.

"What the fuck is Tenzō thinking doing something like that?" Kenshin asked from his corner, "is he trying to break the kid?"

"Tenzō is trying to forge him into the perfect weapon… he believes Naruto's steel is strong enough to survive the forging process and wants to make him the best… I just hope he's right and we don't end up with another Itachi," the attractive woman stated with a sigh before pouring some more spirit and downing it faster than she usually did.

"So… did anyone else think Mitsuki's getting a little closer to the kid than she needs to?" Maneshi asked in an attempt to redirect the conversation.

"She is his chaperone outside of HQ, she is still teaching him how to wear the façade of a civilian, of course she'll be closer to him than any of us," Raida stated from his usual position on the sofa, no longer focusing on Yūgao and once again reading a book.

"Well yeah but didn't she seem a little...different compared to normal?" the most verbal of the group asked before continuing, "I'm beginning to think she has a soft spot for him."

"Does it even matter Maneshi? It's not like it's any of our business anyway," the green haired swordsman in the corner asked before leaning back.

"Oh come on Kenshin, we're stuck in here for months on end with nothing but training, drinking and staring at Yūgao's rack!" the brown haired man stated seriously before dodging a kunai aimed at his head, "I need some gossip man!"

"Maneshi, do not talk about my chest as if it's some form or entertainment for you," the purple haired beauty stated with a bland tone before taking another drink.

"Well it is one of the best parts of this hole," the blue eyed seal user said without any shame, "by the way… when are you going to have a shower?"

"When I'm finished here," she stated without any hint of concern in her tone.

"Damn… that's too vague Yūgao," the explosives expert whined at her lack of precision in her answer.

"Well that's all you're getting from me," she admitted before taking another drink, "besides, when you rejoin the regular forces I'll just tell Hayate-kun that you're harassing me."

"Damn you Yūgao… damn you."

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto was definitely finding this situation strange, here he was once again eating with the green eyed girl he had met upon joining ANBU, only this time it was with a purpose other than eating in mind.

"Remember, your thoughts are a hindrance when trying to put on a façade, push them to the side and focus on one thing… being Uzumaki Naruto, the academy dropout and clerk at the local junk shop," Mitsuki said calmly as she watched the whiskered child take deep, calming breaths with his eyes closed while he sat opposite from her.

"That's a little harsh Mitsuki-chan," the spiky haired youth stated with a bit of a pout, earning several blinks from the woman as she processed the suffix he used for her.

"Not really, that is what I want you to think like, when you are not on duty you should try to think of yourself as the dropout store clerk, you should never think of yourself as a member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai," she decided to ignore the suffix he used and explain her reasoning to him.

"That sounds hard," Naruto admitted with strain in his voice as he tried to do what his senior told him.

"I never was it was easy," she stated with a small smile adorning her face at the look of concentration that enveloped his face. Her smile was wiped from her as she noticed him beginning to quiver and tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

Naruto stiffened upon feeling her arms wrap him in a gentle hug.

"It's alright, let it out and I'll be your shoulder to lean on… just like you chose to be for me," internally she winced at her choice of action, above everything else she knew she should try and get him to push the thought of his first kill to the side but after finally having a shoulder to lean on after her ordeal, she wanted to repay the favour and help him release the pent up emotions that were threatening to break to the surface.

She felt it almost immediately, the warm tears that spilled from his eyes and started to soak her top and without hesitation, she proceeded to rub his back reassuringly.

"I… I chose to kill her," Naruto said through his sobbing, "I chose to kill Sakura-chan."

Time seemed to freeze for the more experienced of the duo. His victim had been that Sakura girl he had had a crush on for years, that was something that she couldn't imagine dealing with, the thought of being forced to kill someone you felt close to for your first kill, combined with the fact that they were defenceless and she was certain that whatever Tenzō had done had been outright cruel, she still remembered how hard coping with her first kill had been and hers had been a bandit that deserved it.

"I… I… I didn't know it was just a henge but… but I… I still killed her," the young blond continued to say between sobs, making the slightly older ninja pat him soothingly.

She wanted to say something, anything to make him feel better but just like before, there was nothing that could truly comfort him, black ops was that sort of organisation, one were you either became so desensitized to the acts you were performing like the majority did, or went off the deep end like Itachi.

There was no middle ground, no ray of hope, there was only the darkness that surrounded them and the others that were swallowed by that same darkness.

Time seemed to crawl by for the two as the twelve year old continued to cry into his elders shoulder, allowing himself to release all the sadness and pain that he had felt ever since he was made to kill. After what seemed like an eternity, the crying finally stopped, not because he fell asleep, or because he had released everything he felt but simply because he didn't have any more tears left.

"I wish I could say something to comfort you but it would all be empty lies if I did," the brown haired girl stated quietly, "sometimes all you can do is try to keep walking forwards, no matter how painful it is."

The young blond could do nothing more than consider those words. He knew it was too late to change anything, he had already made his decision to join ANBU and nothing he did now would change the fact that he had gone through with killing Sakura (even if it wasn't actually Sakura).

So steeling his nerves, he decided to do the only thing he could, make another attempt at training with Mitsuki and when he had completed that, he would work towards becoming exactly what was needed within ANBU.

The perfect weapon.

XXX XXX XXX

Training with Mitsuki was certainly different to anything he'd ever experienced before, especially given how she was prepared to act as a shoulder to cry on for him. If he was honest with himself, he felt a lot better after releasing those tears and receiving the meagre comfort from the young woman.

Of course that didn't change the fact that he was still supposed to learn how to create a psychological mask for his time around the village. The green eyed ANBU had also informed him that he would be expected to develop other masks for infiltration purposes, even if he was going to have to learn how to cover his whiskers with makeup without making himself stand out as an okama.

Honestly he had progressed much quicker after his initial breakdown than the brown haired actress had expected, even if she was left mentally berating herself for believing it would take him a long time to develop the skill after seeing his social interactions before the week long 'training trip'.

Hell he had managed to trick a Jōnin when they met, even if that Jōnin didn't know him particularly well and was more interested in observing their dynamics while eating, that didn't stop it from being impressive, especially for someone with no training.

Still, that didn't change the fact that he wasn't the same as before and while he may have been capable of hiding it on his face, he couldn't get his eyes to sparkle happily like they used to. Of course the good point was that he didn't need to have that sparkle anymore, after all, he had 'abandoned' his dream and was now supposedly living as a civilian when he wanted to be a ninja.

So that made it easy to dismiss without too much trouble.

Of course there would be an exception to that general rule… anyone who knew how ANBU worked would see through his disguise and circumstances and conclude exactly what had happened but that wasn't anything new, hell Kakashi had already figured out that Naruto was a member of black ops purely from hearing how he quit the academy.

So it wasn't a perfect cover but at the same time, those who could figure it out where all people that could be trusted to keep his status a complete secret from everyone, with the only exception being if they chose to visit HQ and see the blond in that environment directly.

The two operatives didn't talk as they walked through the corridors back towards the common room, honestly there wasn't really much to talk about and the general atmosphere between the two was relaxed as opposed to tense so neither felt the need to break the silence.

Finally reaching the common room, Naruto opened the door and gave the room a gaze once again. Before, he had always looked upon this area as a rest room for work, somewhere he could relax after a rather short day of training, however now he saw it differently.

Now it was the place his comrades stayed, it was the place he was going to spend most of his time in and above everything else… it was the closest thing to a home he had ever had.

Here he didn't receive glares, he received concerned stares from people that wanted to help him but didn't know how, here he wasn't tolerated because he was a customer, he was welcomed as a colleague.

And most importantly, here was where the people that accepted him were.

So with a smile he proceeded to wave at the group of elite ninja looking at him before offering a relatively bright, 'yo' in greeting.

"Hey, you okay kid?" Kenshin asked before Maneshi had a chance to open his mouth.

"Not really but I'm feeling a lot better, thanks for asking," Naruto admitted without hesitation, earning a conspiratory look off the seal user as he glanced between the two that had just arrived, obviously searching for something.

"Alright, what gives? You two seem way too buddy buddy right now," the brown haired man asked seriously, earning blank looks off the duo.

"Is there something wrong with that?" the whiskered child asked bluntly, earning a sigh off the seal user as he attempted to word his next statement correctly.

"No, but it is strange, Mitsuki is never that buddy buddy with people unless it's a part of her mission parameters," he informed the blond seriously, earning a few blinks of surprise from the child.

"Most people can't handle seeing me without a mask," the young woman stated bluntly, earning several seconds of silence in the room as she proceeded to move towards the bar, Naruto following not far behind.

"W-wait! You mean he's seen you without a mask wasn't disturbed by it?" the loudest in the room asked with obvious shock in his tone at the notion that such a thing happened.

"Twice," she admitted calmly, earning more glances from around the room.

"Okay… that's new," Yūgao admitted out loud, earning several nods of agreement from everyone in the room.

"So… you two going to share a bed tonight?" once again Maneshi stated something that made everyone in the room let out a sigh of annoyance.

"No," both the jinchūriki and the actress said in unison, neither displaying any emotion at the man's insinuation.

Naruto knew he probably should be embarrassed at what the explosives expert was implying and yet, he found himself unable to. Especially after certain moments of weakness from both of them and the fact they had technically already slept together.

And yet that thought didn't make him blush. He knew it should, that sleeping with a woman was something all men aimed for courtesy of some of his earlier forays of adult magazines and yet, he simply didn't find it embarrassing to sleep with her.

Sure he had been nervous when he woke up and found her waking him but that was because he didn't know how she would react to the fact they had slept in the same bed… her response was reassuring, given that she seemed less concerned about having slept with him and more concerned about people finding out that she had cried.

However he did find himself wondering if he'd ever experience something like that again. It was such a comfortable experience to wake up next to someone and he hoped that it wouldn't be a one off event in his life.

"Oh come on, you know you want to," the man said only to find two kunai missing him, both stabbing the chair mere inches away from his groin, "h-hey! Watch where you're aiming those things!"

"Oh, did I miss?" Naruto shot back with a bored look before pulling out another bladed implement from his pouch, "don't worry, I won't this time."

"You know what, I take it back! You and Anko are perfect for each other!" the now sweating seal user shouted angrily at the blond who was still looking at him blankly.

"Anko… Anko… that's the pretty woman with the orange skirt right?" everyone stared at the blond courtesy of his description… out of all the things he took notice of, why was it the skirt?

"Yeah, that's right and I'm sure that sadist would fit perfectly with you!" the sighs that escaped the lips of everyone present let Naruto know that the man was just being an idiot. The thing was that Naruto was actually about this woman or more importantly _how_ she tortured him.

"Does anyone know where Tenzō is?" the blue eyed boy asked seriously earning several glances from around the room.

"Yeah, he's on patrol right now, has been ever since you got back from your… training with him," Kenshin informed the boy who simply gave a nod of acceptance, "why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I just think I'd like to spend some time with this Anko person," he admitted easily, earning a frightened look off the demolition man.

"H-hold on! I was joking! Joking!" Maneshi said desperately, earning a grin that could almost be considered vindictive off the blond.

"Perhaps but after thinking about it, I want to meet her again," the whiskered child admitted with his grin still in place.

"I see," Yūgao muttered from her position drinking some sake.

"Huh? What do you mean by that Yūgao? Please tell me you're not going to condone a relationship between him and Anko! You know how hard that would be to explain right?" the brown haired man asked her with even more desperation in his voice.

"Well to be fair they would make a rather obvious couple," the purple haired Konoichi admitted, "after all, neither of them are particularly liked within Konoha."

That statement caught Naruto's attention, apparently this Anko woman was an outcast from society like himself, though he didn't know why.

"But I don't think that's what Naruto means by see her," the KDF member stated with a smirk, earning everyones attention again, "I think he wants to learn about poisons."

"Damn right! Some of the ones she used on me were really painful," the whiskered child admitted with a smile, making everyone in the room freeze at how casually he said it, "I want to see how good they are at killing."

"Uh, Naruto, are you sure you're alright?" Maneshi asked nervously, earning a few blinks from the boy as he took in his words.

"Yeah, why?" he asked before noticing the tension in the air, "uh, is something wrong?"

No one said anything in response, making the boy feel nervous once again.

Why weren't they saying anything? Why were they looking at him as if he was something to be pitied?

Raida was the first to break the silence, his calm voice cutting through the air like a hot knife through ice cream.

"Yes there is," the Hyūga admitted, earning a look of surprise from the boy, "it looks like Tenzō did it."

"Huh? What did Tenzō do?" the young assassin in training asked in confusion.

"He broke you."

The man's response confused him and he was sure to find out exactly what he mean by that.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You didn't even realise how casually you talked about being tortured or killing others just then," Yūgao stated seriously, making the blond balk at her statement.

"Well, yeah, that's because I was thinking more about the thought of what poisons could do than what they did to me," he released a shudder as he actively thought about what he remembered from his torture session, "and I wasn't exactly thinking about a target when I talked about killing so I guess I didn't really put too much thought into it."

Honestly, his response eased the atmosphere as they all proceeded to relax once again.

"Sorry about that, I've been worried about your sanity ever since I found out about what Tenzō planned to do to you," the purple haired woman admitted before taking another drink, making the blond scratch the back of his head nervously.

"Hehe, sorry for making you worry," the whiskered child apologized as his mind went over one simple fact that he couldn't stop himself from focusing on.

They cared about him.

They were scared that he had been broken by the training from hell and knowing that fact made the blond feel one thing.

Despite being tortured for three days straight, despite being made to kill the girl he had a crush on… coming here wasn't a mistake.


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto couldn't stop himself from blushing in embarrassment as he stood in the store, feeling Mitsuki's gaze on him as a mischievous smile adorned her face.

The reason for this situation? Orange tracksuits aren't the best fashion choice a person could make.

So he had been dragged to this civilian clothing store by the older girl and forced to try on other items of clothing, sure he wasn't being limited in anything outside of price however that didn't change one simple fact… the brown haired girl wasn't afraid of speaking her mind when it came down to his fashion sense… or lack thereof.

And apparently she found his new favourite t-shirt choice immensely entertaining. He didn't see what was wrong with it, it was a plain orange t-shirt with the silhouette of a ramen bowl on the front, honestly he felt it looked alright with the navy blue pants he was trying on with it.

He had to admit that Mitsuki's reaction was rather off putting, especially the way she would occasionally pretend to withhold giggles, he was certain she was just acting the way she was but that didn't change the fact that her reaction was disconcerting.

Of course her words themselves rung more true to him 'it really suits you'. He could honestly say that he believed her words more than he believed her expression, something he was sure she expected him to do right now. He had learned through recent experience that the girl would speak the truth to him, however she would do so in such a way that it seemed like she was either teasing him or outright lying, it was a rather neat trick for giving her real opinion without actually letting onlookers know she was a fake.

Yes, that was the best word to describe her, a fake. She wore so many masks that few people knew what her real face looked like, what she was truly like under all the deception.

That was fine. He was also a fake.

He was full of fake smiles, fake confidence, fake goals... even his greatest jutsu was the ability to create fakes of himself.

It hadn't taken him long after the week long training just how wrong he was, how he always smiled but was never truly happy, how he always shouted about how strong he was yet was always nervous when it was put to test and even how his goal wasn't really to be Hokage. He wanted everyone to accept him, to acknowledge him as something more than simply the Kyūbi Jinchūriki and make his own place in the village as a whole.

That didn't change the fact he still wanted to become Hokage, despite his place within black ops he was still wanting to grow to become the strongest ninja in the village while making everyone accept him as Uzumaki Naruto, the Godaime Hokage… or maybe the Rokudaime, he didn't know how long the Sandaime would last and he could very well be long dead and buried by the time the young boy had gained the power to take the position.

However his first point of call was getting through his six month training period and the subsequent three year tenure within the organisation itself. Honestly it had only been a little over two weeks and he had already undergone horrific training practices that could've easily broken his mind had he not been as stubborn as he was.

That didn't change the fact he now knew why he wanted to be the Hokage and knew it was wrong and childish. It didn't change the fact that if he did become Hokage it would mean that Konoha as a whole would have accepted him and that becoming it wouldn't be his goal but rather, acknowledgement that he had achieved his goal.

It was also nice to finally meet Shikaku… not Shikamaru's father but Kokuei Shikaku, codename Kage. He was another member of black ops that possessed a civilian persona, supposedly taking a few years off from the shinobi program due to psychological trauma, it actually surprised him that there was more than one person that had undergone a mission that had gone so wrong they could get away with 'returning to the civilian lifestyle'.

Honestly the man reminded him of himself, they were both blond, a rare hair colour outside of the Yamanaka clan, they were both deadlasts in the academy that were scouted for ANBU due to their talents laying outside of the regular forces specialty and were both pretty good at acting when they wanted to be.

The real differences between them were their age and mental state. Shikaku was a little over twice his age and more importantly, they had a completely different reason for being the deadlast of the academy.

Naruto had been the deadlast because he ignored the instructors and spent more time trying to make everyone acknowledge him, something he found never happened if he did alright in the test or practices, probably because everyone was more impressed with Sasuke and how he would always outperform everyone with minimal effort. So Naruto spent all his time joking around and making as much noise as possible while working himself into the ground when he wasn't in the academy.

Shikaku however didn't have such a reason. He simply admitted that he sucked at the academy courses. He apparently worked his ass off in the academy but simply lacked the talent at taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu, apparently he barely passed because of how well he did on the written portions of the exam. Of course the fact that he was in ANBU meant that he had talent in other areas, probably stealth and something good for either assassination or sabotage but that didn't change the fact that his time in the regular forces had been hard.

He had wondered why he hadn't met the guy before, until he was informed that since he was a civilian he would actually have the odd holiday here and there, which included the man's recent trip to a vacation resort near the border to Kusa.

That really did surprise Naruto, the mere thought that a shinobi would be allowed a vacation was strange as far as he was concerned. Then again he was thinking of the regular forces that were required to be on call for emergency purposes… black ops were different.

Every black op mission was planned in advance and rarely had a time limit according to Tenzō's most recent lesson concerning how the missions were assigned, instead the missions were simply required to be completed, apparently the record for the longest time taken for a mission was five weeks with most of that time being spent simply observing the target and determining the most appropriate time, place and manner in which to kill them while drawing the least amount of suspicion.

But none of that changed the current situation. He was still being laughed at by his senpai for trying on such a style, however he shook his head clear of those thoughts and decided to simply try and ignore her 'reaction' hoping that his thoughts on her faking her expression but not her words were right.

Besides he had also decided to get himself shirts in red and yellow as well, sure he didn't understand why he liked those three colours more than any other but he didn't really care either, he liked them and that was all that mattered.

"Alright, I'll just go and buy this stuff and then we can be on our way right Mitsuki-chan?" Naruto said before looking at his 'chaperone' who was still giggling quietly at his fashion choice… honestly he was beginning to think she really did find his choice amusing and he was simply over thinking things.

"Sure, sure, I'll just wait here," she said with a smile, making the blond turn around and head towards the cashier.

XXX XXX XXXX

Finally making it to his apartment, Naruto proceeded to take the bags of clothes into his room where he simply dropped them on his bed before turning around to face the young woman.

"So, were you being honest when you said those clothes suited me?" he asked now that there was no one around to interfere with her persona.

"Yes, they emphasise your love of orange and ramen quite admirably," she said with a small smirk, earning a small, unheated glare off the blond at her jab at his two greatest passions, "seriously though, they are much more civilian focused than your previous tracksuit, while it may have been a little bright, it was made from tough and water resistant material, if anything it was probably the perfect clothing to practice stealth in… probably not the best for actual ninja work but for training it was probably one of the best sets of clothing you could get."

That statement actually made him smile, the fact that she didn't simply condemn his tracksuit as completely awful actually made him a little happy.

It certainly was strange just how used to seeing Mitsuki in his apartment he had gotten, it had only been three days since he had 'returned' to Konoha, even being shown by the older ANBU how to bypass the sensor field that was kept up around the village all day, every day.

He couldn't really say there was anything that would point towards such familiarity, however the fact that she would always drop her masks upon entering his 'home' seemed to be a big factor in it. He really did feel good knowing that she was comfortable enough to expose herself to him whenever they were alone, even if he didn't particularly like the fact that she was in such a condition in the first place.

"Thanks, I guess it is kinda nice to not have to worry about practicality for a change," the young blond responded with a grateful smile as he set about counting how much money he had left. It was a habit he had developed when he was younger and ended up spending too much on a ramen binge once, leaving him with nothing to spend for nearly two weeks.

Sure he wasn't overcharged for anything he bought, he was treated just like any other customer outside of the glares he received, though now they seemed to be less frequent, probably because no one expected him to drop out of the shinobi program like he did… not that they were complaining but it did seem strange to them.

Letting out a sigh he quickly put his new clothes away, he had changed out of the set he had been trying on before purchasing the collection however he had decided to leave his jacket at home before going out in the first place. Honestly the looks he received for now going about in his black t-shirt were entertaining, namely the completely surprised looks that adorned the civilians faces upon seeing him without the full orange tracksuit.

"Are you finished putting everything away?" the dark haired girl asked him after returning to the lounge.

"Yeah," came his response a few seconds later, quickly followed by him leaving his bedroom to see the older ninja standing at his kitchen.

"So, are you ready to continue your lessons?" she asked him with a grin, earning a dejected nod from the spiky haired youth, "then come on, let's see if you're beginning to get any better."

Naruto let out a sigh as he walked over to the kitchen, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of this 'lesson'. It had been happening ever since he discovered he would be getting monthly wages at a civilian level while working within ANBU, which actually meant he would have to be more careful with his money than normal.

And that was why Mitsuki had started to teach him the art of cooking. He had actually been quite surprised to discover that she was skilled in the kitchen, something she put down to as a 'legacy of a misspent youth'. Of course when he inquired about that he had discovered that when she was younger she hadn't been anywhere near as professional as she currently was.

He had been rather surprised to learn that she had actually paralleled Sakura in his own year, possessing lots of theoretical knowledge but putting little effort into actually improving her skills as a ninja, preferring to learn skills that she thought would impress the rookie of the year… one of which just so happened to be cooking.

That thought made him feel strange, to think that Mitsuki used to be like Sakura but was now a psychologically scarred assassin with more masks than all of black ops combined… it was definitely proof that the life of a ninja could change a person and made him wonder if he would ever change… or if he already had but just not realised it.

Shaking his head he banished those thoughts from his mind, it wouldn't do to be distracted when he was about to start cooking, especially given how close to being a complete disaster his last attempt had been.

If it hadn't been for Mitsuki being there to deal stop the situation from escalating he was certain he would've burnt down his apartment that was how bad he had been the previous day.

So it was obvious that he would be at least a little nervous today as well.

XXX XXX XXX

"Uh…" the young blond moaned in frustration as he sat down to the relatively simple meal he had attempted to cook… keyword being attempted.

"Cheer up, you did much better than yesterday," Mitsuki stated calmly as she picked at her own meal that had been butchered by the spiky haired youth and barely salvaged by her just before things got too out of hand. The worst part was that it really was an improvement… the previous day she hadn't been capable of saving the meal despite her best efforts.

"I don't think I'll ever get the hang of cooking," the whiskered child muttered as he mimicked his seniors actions of picking at the horrendously cooked meal.

"Well it is only your second attempt at making a proper meal," the brown haired ANBU stated in a bland tone before she decided to simply push the meal away from her place at the small table they were eating at, "maybe we should go out for dinner."

"Yeah, this isn't really edible is it?" the blue eyed assassin stated before pushing his own meal away with a grimace adorning his face… honestly he was beginning to think his cooking attempts should be used by T&I as a form of torture… then he remembered the training he had been subjected to and quickly pushed that thought to the side, regardless of how bad his cooking was, it wasn't anywhere near bad enough to compete with T&I's brutality and psychological attacks.

"So what do you want to get today?" the green eyed girl asked in her usual blank tone as she prepared herself for the one word she always got from her kōhai whenever she asked that question.

"Ramen!" he stated with a sharpness in his tone that showed just how eager he was to eat the noodle dish again. Clearly he didn't like the fact that she was dragging him away from his favourite dish all the time.

"I suppose I can't keep you from it forever can I?" the young woman stated with her usual lack of emotion as she finally allowed him a chance to return to Ichiraku's for the first time since he had gone underground for his resistance training.

XXX XXX XXX

Teuchi and Ayame found themselves smiling as they watched their favourite customer moaning due to one simple fact… his colleague wasn't letting him eat in his usual manner.

Of course Mitsuki was wearing an exasperated expression as she attempted to teach the young blond some form of manners that could be deployed during undercover missions, meaning she wasn't trying to teach him how to pass as a noble but simply increase his table manners to a point where they wouldn't bring attention to himself if he did eat out.

It was proving significantly harder than teaching him how to act.

"So what's the deal, I thought you said this place wasn't classy enough to worry about manner huh?" Ayame asked with a grin as she leaned on the counter while making sure her face was a good distance away from the similarly aged girl.

"True but I can't try and teach him manners somewhere where they're expected now can I?" the smirk the brown haired ANBU gave upon saying that proved that she was playing the role of someone trying to get a rise out of the other participant in the conversation.

"Are you saying that you're trying to take him away from here?" the girl that considered the young jinchūriki her little brother asked with a bit of mirth in her tone as she tried to think of what it would take to stop the boy from going to their stand.

"Nope, just trying to get him ready for if he ever gets a girlfriend," the actress stated with a smile, making the blond blink at her statement as he processed exactly what she was saying.

Instead of getting indignant at her wording displaying an obvious scepticism at his chances of getting a girlfriend he instead started to think about what he would do about one.

He was certain he would no longer be able to feel that way about Sakura after the training he had gone through but he hadn't bothered thinking about what he was going to do outside of that. Of course his silence earned the attention of the two that worked at the stall, both finding themselves wondering what was wrong to make him go quiet like that.

"Naruto? Is something wrong?" Teuchi asked with concern in his tone as he tried to figure out what had made the blond stop talking so suddenly.

It didn't take long for the boy to come up with an excuse that would work, honestly he was a little surprised at how sharp his excuses were now that he wasn't trying to attract as much attention as possible. It also helped that he had been taught how to act by Mitsuki so he could apply those lessons to make his excuses even more believable.

"I was just thinking that I don't stand a chance with Sakura-chan now that I'm just a civilian," he stated, making sure that he added the suffix he usually used just on the odd chance he didn't use it, he didn't want to draw too much suspicion after all.

Silence reigned after his fake admittance, sure Mitsuki knew the reality of the silence but she was one of the best at acting like a civilian and gave no indication that she had any prior knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the blonds silence.

The two real civilians in the stand stared at the blond for a little while before letting their eyes fall to the ground, it was common knowledge that a shinobi dating a civilian was a rare occurrence, the inherent danger attributed to the profession meant that any partners they had would be at a serious risk if they ever left the village or worse yet, if the village's defence was ever breached.

That was something that made his lie so much easier to buy.

The silence continued as the blond proceeded to continue eating his meal, while simultaneously watching his colleague out of the corner of his eye in case she tried t correct his manners despite the atmosphere.

Sure he suspected that she wouldn't try and correct him right now given that it wouldn't be a particularly ordinary thing for a civilian to do in this situation but that didn't stop him from taking into account the fact that she could very well do it anyway.

Several minutes later, he silently thanked Inari that she had decided to act in a completely civilian manner and ignore his training due to the atmosphere his declaration had created in the stall. That particular fact had allowed him to eat his ramen in his usual manner without having to deal with her constantly attempting to correct his actions… not that he needed correcting right now, honestly he understood everything she had tried to impart onto him but chose to ignore it due to the simple fact that he was eating Ichiraku's as opposed to anything else.

"N-Naruto-kun?" the silence was suddenly broken by a meek voice cutting into the stall, making everyone look at the person that had managed to intrude on the uncomfortable ambiance.

Standing at the entrance and looking at the spiky haired blond with nervous eyes was a young girl with dark blue hair and pale lavender eyes that gave the impression of someone that was blind… rather ironic really when you took into consideration that her eyesight was significantly better than everyone that wasn't from her clan.

Naruto found himself frowning slightly at the fact that this girl had called his name, sure he knew she was from the same class as him and she was a Hyūga like Raida but that didn't change one simple fact… he didn't know her. Sure he knew her name was Hyūga Hinata and that she was notoriously shy but that was it.

And now she was apparently wanting to talk to him and he had no idea why.

"Uh… Hi Hinata, is there something you want?" he asked with a lost look in his eyes at the simple fact that she was talking to him full stop, however that didn't stop him from noting that Mitsuki was paying extra attention to the young girl, though he was pretty certain he was the only one that actually realised it.

"Uh… Uh…" she started, her face flushing a deep red as she tried to compose herself and actually talk to the object of her admiration without making a complete fool of herself, "w-w-why did you d-d-drop out of the academy?"

Naruto blinked in surprise at the fact that she had asked that question of all things, surely it should be obvious why someone that had failed the graduation exam three times would drop out of the ninja program… the real question was why she would care enough to ask in the first place.

"Why do you care? It's not like you're a friend or anything," Naruto asked in a dismissive tone, while paying attention to the young girls reaction, finding himself noting a minor look of horror that made itself apparent in her eyes at his statement.

Teuchi and Ayame found themselves staring in shock at the young jinchūriki's current demeanour, having never expected to hear something so cynical from the usually cheerful child that always boasted about becoming Hokage. That was the moment when they finally realised that something fundamental to the blonds nature had changed… and the only thing they could think of that could be responsible for that change was simple, that he had lost hope in his dream.

"T-that's wrong!" the pale eyed girl finally managed to say with obvious desperation in her tone and words, something that the whiskered child picked up on quite easily.

"Really? If that's so then name one time we've had a full on conversation before now," he asked sceptically, slightly surprising himself at the fact that he was being so negative right now.

Then he remembered the difference between before and now… he was no longer the innocent idiot looking at the world through rose tinted glasses.

Before he would've simply accepted her and what she said without question, he would've just been happy to have someone else that was prepared to call him a friend but now… now he was thinking about what the girl had done to indicate some form of friendship and in all honesty, he was just drawing a blank on that attempt.

He was proven right when all the girl did in response to his question was look at the ground guiltily.

Naruto had to stop himself from scoffing at the girls response as he proceeded to turn his back on her and prepare himself to order another bowl of ramen from the chef.

"I-I know I haven't been a good friend," Hinata stated, finally losing the stutter that seemed inherent to her character, "but that doesn't change the fact that I always believed in you!"

Naruto froze upon hearing that statement, his mind trying to comprehend exactly what she was saying to him right now, he could never remember hearing anyone say that they believed in him, even Iruka hadn't actually said that even if he had implied that he considered the blond a good person and not the Kyūbi.

"You were always so strong, no matter what anyone said you didn't give up, you just kept getting back up and working even harder to prove them all wrong! So why? Why have you given up now of all times?" she continued, her voice the strongest the blond had ever heard it and despite his shock at her words, he noted that Ayame and Teuchi were looking at her with a rather soft expression and Mitsuki…

Mitsuki looked at the girl with an expression that looked like someone watching a trashy romance film, however he could see it in her eyes, the fact that she pitied the young Hyūga. He didn't know why she pitied the girl but he could tell that that was what his senpai felt towards the newly graduated genin.

It was with deliberate slowness that he turned to face his old classmate before he made a single statement.

"There are only so many times a person can fail and not lose hope," and with that statement he saw the young girls frame go limp before she started to shudder violently and her expression turned into one of pure desperation and panic.

"Y-you can't give up! You can't! Uzumaki Naruto would never give up on his dream!" she cried out as tears began to build up in her eyes. That was when Naruto finally realised why Mitsuki was looking at the girl with pity in her eyes.

Despite their lack of interaction, despite the fact he barely knew her… she needed him. She needed his confidence and never give up attitude to support herself and now he was giving up she was losing that support.

She was using him as a crutch and he had finally broken on her.

Sure he hadn't really broken or given up but he couldn't tell her that she was wrong, that he was actually a ninja and had been accepted into the elites… and yet he didn't feel guilty about not telling her.

She had used him as a crutch and now that he was no longer supporting her, she would have only three options, fall and never get up, find a new crutch or learn to walk on her own two feet.

So it was with that in mind that he made his next statement.

"I can and I did," he knew he was being cruel, he knew that he would seriously hurt the girls feelings by admitting that but in the end, he decided that that was what she needed and he wouldn't let himself try and soften the blow.

And it was clear just how much that blow hurt the girl as she froze and the tears that had been threatening to fall finally succumbed to gravity and trailed down her cheeks before she screwed her eyes closed and ran away from the stand.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Ayame said while looking at the boy like she had never seen him before.

"Sorry about that Ayame-neechan, I guess she didn't like the fact I gave up huh?" he responded in a subdued tone before placing his order for another large miso ramen with roasted pork fillet.

"You do realise that making a girl cry is a horrible thing to do don't you Naruto?" Teuchi asked with a firm voice as he prepared the boy another bowl.

"All I did was tell her the truth, I don't know why she started overreacting like that," the youngest in the stall lied while silently thanking Tenjin that he had already had acting lessons from his senior in ANBU.

"Really? It seemed pretty obvious to me," Mitsuki chimed in with a hint of mischief in her tone before dropping what would've been a bombshell on him if he hadn't already lost at least some of his naivety, "that girl had a major crush on you."

Naruto internally scoffed at that, saying Hinata had a crush on him was like saying he liked the colour orange, outright obvious now that he was thinking more than before, however that didn't change the fact that she probably had the same feelings for him that he used to have for Sakura… something that wasn't strong enough to stop her from killing him if the need was great enough.

However despite his internal derision at the revelation, he feigned surprise at the green eyed girls statement, letting his eyes widen in shock and his breath to hitch at what was supposed to be a surprise to him.

He knew he wouldn't fool Mitsuki but in the end he wasn't trying to fool her, he was trying to fool the owners of the ramen stand and judging by the way they palmed their faces at his reaction, he had done a damn good job of it.

"So will you go after her?" Ayame asked now that it had been pointed out to him, earning a sigh off the blond.

"No, I don't think she'll want to speak with me right now," he admitted, besides he didn't want to speak with her anytime soon, doing so could simply cause her to re-establish him as a support and that was the last thing he wanted.

His response seemed to upset his sister figure but in the end he was greeted by another bowl of ramen and without saying another word he dove into the meal with gusto, though that didn't stop him from noticing the ANBU sign his senior had flashed him.

'Good work'.


	14. Chapter 14

Somewhere a few miles away from one of the many small towns that existed in Hi no Kuni, a small camp existed.

Within the camp many bandits lazed about, completely oblivious to the porcelain masked shadow that observed them from one of the trees.

The mask the shadow wore was plain, outside of the bloodstain that decorated it, a bloodstain that had been there for nearly six months.

Yet even as the shadow crouched in the trees, his presence hidden not by any form of special technique or equipment but through pure skill that made him nothing more than a spectre towards any that would try to search for him.

Despite knowing that the enemies were no match for him, he did not make a move, he did not leave his position observing them, not because he was afraid but because it wasn't his territory. While he was easily stronger and deadlier than all but one of the bandits, it did not change the fact that he was no warrior and this situation was not to test his combat capabilities but his operational capabilities.

His goal was simple, to kill all the bandits in the camp without alerting anyone to his presence, including any captives that may be held in the camp.

So far he had been observing the group for three hours and had determined several things, one, that there were no captives to worry about being seen by, two, that the group was organised and therefore, predictable and three, that their leader was a rogue ninja.

He knew that the leader was nothing special, according to the bingo book he had memorized the man was only a B-rank ninja, which essentially meant he was somewhere in the region of high Chūnin to low Jōnin in skill.

That didn't matter to him, the leader would simply be the first to die, there was nothing else for him to concern himself with concerning the man, after all, such a level was nowhere near high enough to even detect the shadows presence, then again, the enemy's level shouldn't matter in that situation anyway, he was a figurative ghost after all.

His trained senses worked at full power to analyse the positions and condition of all the enemies, his mind working over the most efficient method of slaughter, he didn't care about the speed of the slaughter but the effort required to achieve it.

Eventually he made his move, blurring from tree to tree, doing nothing to give away his presence as he used his finely honed skills in the art of stealth to their fullest as he made his way towards the path that would take him to the ninja's tent.

Silently he moved from the tree line to the camp itself, his senses still expanded to tell him about everything around him as he avoided area's where he would be exposed in favour of anywhere that cover existed.

The tent itself was the real problem, getting into the tent without being caught would be near impossible, attacking through the fabric would give the enemy a couple of instants notice and therefore, time to react and attempting to draw the enemy out of the tent would put them on guard. However, he had a way around that problem.

He silently moulded his chakra, kneading it to perform one of the few jutsu he knew, the one that he had used more often than any other over the past six months… the Kage Bunshin no jutsu.

He needed no hand seals, he had practiced the jutsu so much over the past couple of months that he could now use it without anything as unwieldy as that. He had also long since practiced manifesting the bunshin manually, learning how to make them appear where he wanted and without any indication that they had appeared, a silent, undetectable creation of a perfect replica of himself.

This one appeared on the other side of the cloth that kept him separate from the enemy ninja and mere seconds later, he received the memories of the bunshin.

One down, seventeen to go.

Certainly he could attempt to kill them all at the same time however attempting such a thing would require more kage bunshin and the more of him there were running around, the more likely it would be that someone would catch sight of one of the copies and raise an alarm.

That was not an acceptable outcome.

Instead he would eliminate the thugs one at a time and hide the corpses, after that he would create a bunshin to henge into the enemy so that no suspicion would be raised when enough people had gone missing.

One by one the thugs fell, their training under the former shinobi worthless in the face of a shadow that they didn't even know existed and within half an hour, the camp was filled with but eighteen corpses and a single masked and cloaked individual.

"Congratulations Recruit," came a calm call from the tree line as another masked figure walked out, this one wearing a cat mask and lacking the cloak the other wore, "you successfully fulfilled all the mission objectives."

"Hai, Tenzō-Taichō," the assassin responded without a hint of emotion in his tone as he stood before the significantly taller man.

"How would you rate your performance?" the observer asked the cloaked figure calmly.

"Acceptable, the enemies were all low level, therefore my performance cannot be anything higher than that," the wearer of the blood stained mask stated without any inflection in his tone, earning a sharp nod off the older of the two.

"Correct, your performance could not have been any better than you achieved however the enemies were all insignificant and ignorant, if they had all been ninja then the operation may have gone very differently," the cat masked man stated without any emotion in his tone either, "however, if they were a greater threat then I doubt you would have gone through with such a plan of action would you?"

"My actions required that the enemies were all amateurs, attempting such a thing against professionals would not work," the shorter of the duo stated with a nod of his head.

"Good, now come, it is time to return to our base of operations," the senior said calmly, earning a nod off the child as the two proceeded to vanish in bursts of speed that left no trace of their existence outside of the massacre that had been committed by the younger of the duo.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto was certainly happy to return to Konoha, despite making the statement about returning to the base of operations, they had returned to Konoha itself. Certainly it had taken a few hours to run the distance but in the end they had returned without any difficulties.

Of course Tenzō would've never said the word Konoha or made any implications of being associated with it while outside the village, it was against protocol to do so and could very easily give away an ANBU's affiliation, something which was considered a grave sin within the organisation as it would implicate the village in any number of criminal activities.

But none of that mattered right now, what mattered was that he had just been tested via completion of a bandit extermination mission and would soon be returning to the ANBU HQ. Officially he was on another sales trip outside the village and wasn't due to return till the following day, as such he would spend the rest of the night at HQ before his routine would finally change.

Tomorrow was the day he would finally receive his mask and codename.

He had already inquired about keeping his recruit mask, however Tenzō had been adamant that he could not take it home.

That didn't dissuade the blond, instead he simply asked that they preserve it at HQ since he wanted it to serve as a reminder of the day he lost his innocence… of the day he learned what he was capable of.

Even now he still remembered the feelings killing the copy of Sakura had inspired in him, however he had long since learned how to ignore them, especially when tasked with taking another life... or several.

Yes, he knew he was a completely different person to what he was six months ago, gone was the loudmouth brawler and in its place was a silent and fluid killer… not that he never spoke or had fun, he still acted as normally as he could when hanging out at HQ and still acted as a civilian while walking around Konoha as Uzumaki Naruto but after putting on the mask… that was when everything changed.

While wearing the mask he was a monster, he knew that much, no sane human being could kill so many people without feeling anything and yet, he could. He knew that what he did was completely different to the rest of his graduating class, the most they had done was go on a couple of C-rank escort missions and killed a couple of bandits in defence of their clients… he however had slaughtered entire camps of bandits without a seconds hesitation.

And to make matters even more obvious, his training had focused primarily around knowledge, learning advanced biology and how to examine a corpse and when he wasn't learning knowledge, he was either learning little tricks to help out his stealth skills or even more likely, new ways to kill.

He knew about fifty different ways to kill a person, several of which were instantly fatal with the rest practically guaranteeing death provided the enemy didn't receive immediately medical treatment for the damage caused… and several more of them were indistinguishable from natural causes, though at the same time, if used on the incorrect target they would raise suspicion as to why the person died in the manner they did.

Still, the fact remained that Naruto could call himself an expert in ending life, something his old classmates wouldn't be capable of claiming for quite some time if Kakashi's estimation was anything to go by.

But none of that really mattered to him, he couldn't tell them that they were just children playing ninja, he couldn't tell them that if they were ever targeted by him they would die before they could protect themselves, even Kiba, Shino and Hinata, the team that specialized in tracking would be powerless against him because even if they did catch him before he managed to kill them, the fact remains that he possessed the skill to snuff out their life regardless of that fact.

Admittedly that was only if he was using lethal methods, he didn't know how well he would do against them if he wasn't aiming to kill them.

Though he was certain that the poisons he kept on his person whenever he was in uniform would be more than capable of incapacitating them if he used lower concentrations instead of the usually fatal quantities he usually used.

He was pretty sure Anko would approve of that, after all, if he diluted the poisons with the intention of keeping the victim alive then they would probably end up in excruciating agony.

Finally arriving at the Hokage's tower, he followed his teachers lead just like he always did, walking through the entrance and towards T&I, completely ignoring the other occupants of the room in the process. There was no speaking while walking towards the HQ, saying anything to anyone could give away speech patterns and allow for someone with enough familiarity to recognize the member despite the voice distorter built into the masks.

Not that he felt like talking there anyway, the atmosphere had completely changed ever since the previous Chūnin exams.

He hadn't been in the crowd, instead tending the store while the event was taking place… until the invasion had started.

The young blond had wanted nothing more than to assist in defence of the village but he had already been given explicit instructions to remain uninvolved and act as a civilian at all times throughout the attack. He was certain he would've defied those orders if it wasn't for Mitsuki keeping him out of trouble and making sure he followed his orders.

Apparently the Hokage and elders considered nothing more important than ensuring the secrecy of the black op members identities.

He had heard that the village had been attacked by a bijū on top of the two armies that stormed the walls and that the only reason the beast hadn't crushed half the village was because one of the Densetsu no Sannin had been guarding the villages perimeter with his toad summons.

That didn't change the greatest casualty of the assault… that the Sandaime Hokage had been killed in action.

Even after several months he still found himself having trouble accepting the death of the person he considered the closest thing to a grandfather figure in his life.

And beyond that was the process of selecting the Godaime Hokage. It had taken nearly six whole weeks for the inauguration to occur and involved Jiraiya of the Sannin turning down the position, trying to retrieve his old teammate Tsunade for the position, something which he failed to achieve, then the council attempted to persuade the man to take the position anyway, which he continued to deny before they decided to approach Hatake Kakashi about it, only for him to turn it down under the pretence that he was a Jōnin sensei and didn't want to leave the team before they were ready and then when all that was done, they finally decided on giving the position to Shimura Danzō.

The problem there was that during the Jōnin vote, the ninja forces practically declared that they didn't want to work under him when no one voted to accept his claim on the title and in the end, Konoha ended up without a Hokage, instead giving temporary control of the village to the advisory council, Jōnin commander and the head of ANBU until such a time that a new Hokage could be agreed upon.

And that situation had become known throughout the shinobi nations.

The political fallout of one of the five great shinobi villages no longer possessing a Kage had been immense, causing many villages that would normally consider Konoha too great to threaten as having been weakened to the point of being crippled despite the lack of truth in that assumption.

What was really unsettling was the movements of both Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

It appeared that both villages were preparing themselves for war, quite possibly considering the possibility of crushing their old adversary while they were down and unable to properly defend themselves either through military or politics.

The probes that the other villages had sent to test their defences said that they were definitely considering starting the fourth shinobi war.

And Naruto hated it.

The fact that Konoha was on the brink of war and he wouldn't be capable of fighting on the front lines was torturous for him, the only consolation he could find was that if it was war time, he would get more missions to assassinate high ranking officials that supported the other sides but that wouldn't provide that much help to the regular forces that would fight on the front lines.

In the end, he simply hoped that the council would be capable of persuading someone to take the position of Hokage soon, otherwise they could very well face a full onslaught from two of Konoha's greatest enemies while they and their primary ally were both still recovering from a traitors machinations.

But none of that mattered to black ops as a whole, the KDF were on a completely different track, working overtime to try and keep Konoha safe but since black ops were so secret and uninvolved in open combat… they were ordered to act as normal.

Finally reaching the entrance to the ANBU HQ, the duo entered the passage without a word, ensuring that the door was closed properly behind them. They had only been gone a day but the reality was that this day was yet another that the man could've spent protecting the village.

The only reason Tenzō had even been allowed to escort the blond out of the village was because the council had all agreed that his skills would probably be needed if they wanted to restore some semblance of balance to the shinobi nations… after all, if Iwagakure and Kumogakure got too full of themselves and chose to start a war, then they would need to be brought back down to earth and the quickest way to do that was to remove their own Kages from their positions.

And Naruto understood that.

He was essentially Konoha's secret weapon, the one thing they had that could tip the scales back into their favour… well, Kirigakure was attempting to recover from their own civil war but in the end they didn't have the same level of resentment that Konoha possessed from the other villages and they were left alone.

For that reason it would be unlikely for the blond to be sent to that village to kill their leader, there simply just wasn't enough need to risk such an action where they were involved.

In the end, if a fourth shinobi war did occur, the chances would be that Kirigakure would end up as one of the strongest villages despite having just come out of a civil war and the reason for that would be simple, because they would still have a Kage.

"Welcome back, did you enjoy your latest killing spree?" a cheerful voice called out when they entered the common room, making Naruto look in the direction of Maneshi as he sat in his usual corner with a saucer of sake in his hands.

"No, it was a test, not a hobby," the whiskered child said as he finally removed his bloodstained mask and the cloak that covered his entire body.

"So how did you do?" Raida asked from his place on the sofa, his usual book no longer in his hands.

"It was… acceptable," the blue eyed child stated without any inflection in his tone as he found the appropriate word to describe how he performed on the test.

"Man, you seriously need to lighten up some, you've been way too gloomy ever since the Sandaime kicked the bucket," the explosives expert said with obvious dislike for the fact the blond hadn't yet gotten over the fact.

"Well perhaps if the overall situation wasn't so bleak I would be able to relax a little," the whiskered youth stated bluntly, earning a sigh off the brown haired black ops operative.

"Seriously, you need to learn how to push that stuff out of your head Naruto," the drinking man stated with a gloomy aura enveloping him as he was reminded of the many problems that faced Konoha right now.

"Yeah, black ops is one of the few places where you need to relax whenever you get the chance, especially if it looks like the village is leading up to war," Kenshin stated from his position in one of the corners, "just because everything is going to hell doesn't mean you have to run yourself into the ground over it."

"Besides, tomorrow is the big day right? Surely you should get some relaxation before you are fully integrated into ANBU right?" Maneshi said as he finished off his saucer with a large gulp.

"Yeah… I guess I should try and relax a little more huh?" Naruto admitted despite not finding it in himself to actually think of happy things while the world was crashing down around him.

"Well, sake makes everything better, up for a suppressor?" the brown eyed seal user asked his junior with a grin, earning a soft smile off the blond in the process.

"Yeah, it is nice to get drunk every now and then," the jinchūriki replied as he walked over to the bar and pulled open a small drawer filled with syringes. He knew it wasn't something to take on a regular basis, the liquid within it had only one purpose, to suppress his healing factor, apparently the hospital had developed it in case they ever needed to operate on him and his healing factor started to get in the way… one of the side effects of the drug was that it allowed him to get drunk.

There were other side effects that meant he couldn't use them regularly, namely that if he takes enough of it then he could either develop an immunity to the drug's effects or even worse, permanently turn off his healing factor and in turn, cut his lifespan drastically.

And that wasn't even including the fact that it would make him completely vulnerable to poisons, sure he wasn't exactly immune to them with his healing factor but he could delay the onset of the toxin for a little while and his body would purge itself of the danger within a couple of hours while simultaneously keeping him alive throughout the process.

But in the ANBU HQ and about once a month, he could take a shot and allow himself to get drunk.

He hesitated as he thought about the fact that if he took one today he wouldn't be able to take another after the inauguration ceremony the following day. He quickly shook his head clear, the ceremony would most certainly not be a time for getting drunk, he understood that much from the simple fact that ANBU was a professional organisation and induction was an incredibly formal affair with no celebration associated with it.

So he picked up one of the syringes and quickly made the needle pierce the skin on his arm, ensuring that he found a vein where it could start circulating his body and slowing down his metabolism and restricting the production lymphocytes.

He knew that the drug would take about fifteen minutes for its effects to become visible however that didn't stop him from picking up a bottle of sake and preparing himself for a night of drinking.

XXX XXX XXX

The next day Naruto woke up groggily just as he normally did, knowing that his healing factor had dealt with whatever hangover would've existed if he was a normal person.

He was once again in one of the ANBU HQ beds and immediately started to get up and head towards the changing rooms, he was certain he needed a shower before getting dressed properly.

Showers were a short matter for him, nothing more than a case of washing himself and getting ready for the rest of the day, that was all that they meant to him and that resulted in them only taking about five minutes with another five spent drying himself off and getting dressed.

Today he immediately got dressed in his standard issue ANBU shirt, pants and sandals. He had yet to receive his true mask, ninjato or the armour associated with the group, he was just a recruit undergoing training until now after all and recruits didn't need the armour that the fully fledged members wore.

Sure he had practiced using a ninjato sized bokutō on several occasions so he knew exactly how to use it to the greatest effect, he was by no means an expert at kenjutsu but he didn't plan on getting into any fights in the first place so all he really needed was knowledge of how to kill with it and that was something he had gotten very good at.

He returned to the common room where he noted that Tenzō was already up and prepared to take him to the council chambers where the ceremony would occur.

"How long before the ceremony starts?" the spiky haired youth asked calmly as he looked at the cat mask that Tenzō was currently wearing.

"A little over two hours," the man that taught the blond nearly everything he knew stated with a blank tone of voice, Naruto didn't need to be given any instructions about what to do, he had long since outgrown such immaturity.

Going over to the bar, he picked up the mask and cloak he had left there the previous night and put both on without a word before making his way towards the sofa and making himself comfortable as his heart started to race at the prospect of what today signified.

He would finally be sent on actual missions instead of the jokes he had been practicing his skills with for the past couple of months.

He would finally be given the mission that he had been dreading ever since he first heard about it.

He would finally be sent to assassinate a Kage.

He knew that was inevitable, before the death of the Sandaime it was simply a possibility to gain political leverage, now it would be a way of cutting off the enemies head and sow discord amongst their forces.

Before it was optional, now it was necessary.

He cleared his head and started to meditate, it was a skill that he had been forced to learn given how much of preparing an assassination was waiting for the perfect opportunity. Before he had been unable to sit still for a minute but now, now he was capable of remaining still for hours, if not days, on end.

Certainly he didn't enjoy the act, he was still an Uzumaki with boundless stamina and ludicrous chakra reserves, the thought of staying still was an incredibly difficult process but he had learned it and worked hard to ensure that he could wait for as long as necessary when on a mission.

He chose to ignore the sounds of the others that had stayed the night at HQ as they woke up, though he had to admit that Maneshi definitely sounded hung over, not that Naruto felt sympathy for the demolitions man, he knew exactly what he was getting into when he decided to drink like he did.

"Uzumaki, it's time," Naruto immediately knocked himself out of his trance as Tenzō called out to him, indicating that the time to leave for the ceremony had finally arrived.

XXX XXX XXX

The walk through the Hokage's tower was done in silence just like normal, however the nervousness that existed in the blonds chest was still present and no matter how hard he tried to calm himself, he simply found that he couldn't.

It almost made him laugh, he could slaughter an entire bandit camp without batting an eyelash and yet meeting with the temporary village leaders was enough to make him a nervous wreck.

He couldn't help but admit to himself that Mitsuki had been right when she said that black ops turned people into living weapons.

Finally coming before the council chambers, Tenzō gave a brief knock on the door that was immediately answered by an old man with a simple order to enter.

Upon entering the room, the young Uzumaki took note of exactly who was present.

On the far left was a middle aged man with black hair tied into a style reminiscent of a pineapple. His face was marred with many scars that made it very clear that he was a veteran of war. What Naruto knew him as however was Nara Shikaku, the Jōnin commander and Shikamaru's father.

Sitting directly next to him was an old woman he recognised as one of the Sandaime's old teammates and one of the people that suggested him for the ANBU program in the first place, Utatane Koharu.

At the far right sat a man he had met on several occasions, he still didn't know the man's name despite that, only that he was the commander of the ANBU forces, the man that would pass the mission briefings onto the appropriate members before they proceeded to perform their missions as instructed. He was also the person responsible for designating squads and their leaders both for the KDF patrols and the black ops operations.

Sitting next to him was another person the blond had met before, Mitokado Homura, Koharu's former teammate and the other person to suggest the jinchūriki's place within the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.

And sitting in the middle was another person he recognised, however this time it was from one of the bingo books he had obtained during one of his earlier test assaults on bandit camps… the spiky black hair, the cross shaped scar on his chin and the bandages covering his right eye, the man could be none other than Shimura Danzō, the Sandaime's old rival and one of the failed candidates for the position of Godaime.

And he knew it was because none of the Jōnin trusted the man as opposed to his skill.

Upon reaching the centre of the room, the spiky haired youth immediately went down to one knee with his opposing hand held in a fist and pushed against the floor as was customary for the members of ANBU to do when being addressed by a superior.

"Welcome recruit," Danzō said from his position at the centre of the five, "today, you are here to officially receive your mask, armour, ninjato and codename."

He motioned towards the pile of equipment that was located on the table directly in front of him before he continued.

"From this moment onwards, you are hereby a fully fledged member of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai and shall be expected to maintain the secrecy required from such a position," the bandaged man stated firmly as the cloaked child remained motionless.

"Your skill set and level has been analysed by your instructor throughout your training and his report has been used to determine the appropriate mask and codename for you," the oldest in the room continued, earning nods of acknowledgement from the other four in the room, "and thus, from this moment onwards, you are hereby declared Mamushi of the hebi mask, now collect your equipment and return to ANBU HQ to await further instructions."

"Hai Danzō-sama," the blond stated without emotion as he rose from his position and walked forward to accept his new equipment, looking at the lightweight armour, razor sharp blade currently contained within its sheath and lastly, the porcelain snake mask that rested on top of the rest.

It felt unreal to him, to finally hold the final proof of his place within the village.

The final proof of what he would do for the next three years.

Without further word, he turned and left the room, Tenzō once again acting as his escort as he returned to the closest thing to home he had.

Back to the room where the roots that support the tree live.


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto was nervous… scratch that, he was terrified.

Today was the day he would finally receive the order… today was the day he would be tasked with assassinating the Sandaime Tsuchikage.

And that thought was something that had been haunting him for the past six months.

He had read up on all the known assassination attempts of Kages and knew that nearly every one of them ended in complete disaster, one of the prime example being Taki's attempt at killing Senju Hashirama, only one of their ninja survived that ordeal and that was apparently only because the Shodaime _let_ him live to act as a messenger.

In every history book he had been forced to read, there were only ever two ways a Kage had died, they were either killed by another Kage, as was the case of the Nidaime Mizukage and Nidaime Tsuchikage and their mutual defeat, or it had taken at least two entire squads of talented ninja to defeat them… sometimes it even took an entire army to defeat that one ninja.

And here he was, waiting for the orders to kill what was probably the most experienced of the current Kage, someone that had managed to run his village for longer than any other Kage, even Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't spent as much time in the Kage seat as Ōnoki had.

That was the real problem.

Naruto may have once been a fool but the fact remained that he had long since been forced to grow up and accept the reality of the world and one thing he noticed was that war was easy to start. He knew in his gut that despite Konoha's apparent weakness, Ōnoki was still wary of the village as a whole and was likely holding off on making a move until he was completely certain he could end whatever war he started with minimal casualties… that was the wisdom of experience talking.

The question was, would the Yondaime Tsuchikage follow the same wisdom when they took over? Naruto was more than aware of how angry most Iwa nin were over the third shinobi war and the losses they suffered at the hands of Namikaze Minato, so it was entirely possible that they would just see weakness and start another war against Konoha.

He had no doubt Konoha would be capable of surviving, at least for awhile, however if Iwa made a move then there was no guarantee that Kumo wouldn't join in on the assault and with relations with Suna stretched thin, the chances were that Konoha would end up having to hold off another two pronged invasion singlehandedly and he wasn't sure it could do that… especially not when Kumo's jinchūriki were added into the mix.

From what he had heard, Kumo's jinchūriki were different to the usual hosts, namely that they possessed at the very least, a certain level of control over their bijū, something that put their military power on a whole different level to the other villages.

Of course he knew there were ways of dealing with that power but it would be highly likely that the two Kumo jinchūriki would at the very least, seriously damage Konoha's forces before they could deal with the rampaging beasts and that sort of damage could easily cripple the village to the point that it couldn't withstand any further assault.

But it wasn't his choice.

He was ANBU and so it was his job to complete his missions unfailingly or die trying, the results of his mission are not something he was supposed to think about.

And yet that was all he could think about.

"Uzumaki, I would advise that you calm yourself before receiving your mission dossier," the mokuton user said loudly from his place leaning against a wall.

"I know Tenzō-sensei," he said in response, knowing that it was pointless to say anymore than that.

"So the big day's finally arrived huh?" Maneshi said from his usual seat, "you're finally waiting for your first orders… feeling nervous?"

"Yeah," the whiskered child admitted solemnly as he once again attempted to force the repercussions of killing the Tsuchikage out of his mind, "I just can't stop myself from thinking about what'll happen after I kill the Tsuchikage."

The other individuals in the room couldn't stop themselves from blinking upon hearing his statement, even Tenzō found himself caught off guard by the blonds certainty. He would say that it was overconfidence however he could tell from the way the blond said it that he wasn't being arrogant… it was more like he had convinced himself that any other possibility was unacceptable.

"The results of your mission are of no concern to you," the mokuton user said seriously, "it is something that the council are required to focus on and make their decisions around."

"I know, that's why I'm trying to put those thoughts out of my mind but it is hard," the newly minted Mamushi admitted dejectedly.

The silence that followed his admittance was deafening, everyone there knew exactly what the blond was talking about having experienced the same type of anxiety themselves at one point or another. That was one of the real pressures of being in black ops, the missions they took almost always had far reaching consequences while those in the regular forces were more often than caused minor changes in the political landscape if any at all.

But black ops was all about politics.

Every mission had a political agenda, every action had severe repercussions and every operative was forced to face the fact that their actions could very well start the next shinobi war even if they got everything perfect.

That was the true pressure of black ops.

Naruto knew that the only reason the common room was so quiet was because of him, or rather, the mission he was expected to receive. The situation was such a momentous occasion that no one truly knew how to act, even Tenzō was left with no frame of reference to call from, sure he may have seen others tasked with assassinating Daimyo's before but there was a massive difference between assassinating a Daimyo and a Kage.

While a Daimyo tended to have a few high level ninja guarding them, those ninja were usually low Jōnin level and as long as you managed to remain clear of them, the Daimyo themselves weren't much harder to kill than a pig in a pen.

A Kage however, was completely different. When attempting to take a Kage's life, you were attempting to kill someone at the peak of a ninja's power and skill, even the oldest Kage could crush most Jōnin if they ever fought each other. But the real problem was their awareness… unlike a Daimyo, a Kage tended to have highly trained senses and above everything else, a natural ability to feel and identify intent.

Intent was probably one of the most important lessons he had received in his time at ANBU so far, that every action had a certain level of intent behind it, that that intent was subconsciously projected toward the subject of that intent and that a perceptive enough individual could easily pick up on that intent and therefore discover an assassin before they finished their attempt… that had resulted in plenty of would be assassin's dying at the hands of their targets.

And so he had been tested to see how much intent he produced… it had apparently surprised Tenzō that he couldn't sense any form of intent from the blond so he ended up deciding that he didn't need any help in lowering his already low levels.

He just hoped his intent was small enough to escape the Tsuchikage's senses.

He was brought out of his thoughts upon seeing the entrance to T&I open, revealing the very person he was waiting for… the ANBU commander.

The man was wearing his usual attire of dark trousers and a white cloak with a dog mask with three blue marks lining the edges of the porcelain construct.

"Mamushi," he said without inflection as he walked up to the blond with a large, beige folder in his hands, making the blond look at it uncertainly, he had been told that black ops were done with no paperwork so it couldn't be proven one way or another, so why was his commander carrying such a large quantity of it? "your first mission has been decided, you are to travel to Iwagakure and assassinate the Sandaime Tsuchikage."

Naruto had been expecting that order, everyone in the room had been expecting that order but the fact remained that finally hearing that concept as official orders was something else entirely.

"You are expected to make his death look natural and prevent the arousal of suspicion, you have already been taught several methods of achieving this result, choose whichever is appropriate," the commander stated seriously, "this file contains all the information Konoha has collected on Tsuchi No Kuni and Iwagakure, look over the information, form your plans and contact me to finalise your plans, should you require any other specialists to assist in your mission, I shall assign them as appropriate."

Naruto quickly processed that information, his mind acknowledging the purpose of the folder he had just been handed now that it had been stated. The information was non-incriminating as far as assassination was concerned, after all, every village did whatever they could to collect as much information on their rivals as possible it almost always made potential war that much easier.

"And do not annotate those files, we need them to remain non incriminating," the dog mask ANBU stated seriously, earning a nod of acceptance from the blond as he took the large folder off his superior.

"Yes sir," was his only reply as the white cloak ninja left through the same door he arrived.

The tension in the air was palpable as the blond held the folder containing all the information available to him. He knew that it wouldn't be enough but the fact remained that it was far better than nothing because at least now, he could come up with a plan to infiltrate the village instead of having to figure out how to do so when he got there.

"So it's really happening… damn, that's a tough break Naruto," the man that could probably be called the whiskered child's drinking partner stated unenthusiastically.

"Well, the tougher it is, the better I'll be for completing it," the young jinchūriki said with a lopsided grin. Sure he didn't honestly think he could succeed but thinking in terms of failure would only hinder his work so he decided to keep his thoughts positive.

No one in the room argued with him. They all knew exactly what he was doing and so instead of arguing, they simply let it go, he needed all the confidence he could get after all.

"Well, I guess I'd better start looking over the information I've been given right?" the spiky haired youth stated as he moved to one of the unoccupied tables in the room and set his folder down before opening it to retrieve the files he had been supplied with.

It wasn't that strange for the blond, honestly the common room tended to be quite quiet unless Maneshi decided to make a bit of a ruckus by either drinking or attempting to flirt with Yūgao… it was pretty obvious the guy knew he wouldn't get anywhere with the woman but at the same time there wasn't really that serious, though he had stopped those attempts after her lover was killed less than a month before the Suna and Oto invasion.

Pushing all unnecessary thoughts out of his head he pulled out the files contained in the folder and looked for what was probably the most important file to read first, namely the defences surrounding the other village and without any further hesitation, he started going over all the necessary information.

XXX XXX XXX

"So, how was work today?" Ayame asked as she served the blond Jinchūriki one of his regular dishes at the ramen stand.

"Ugh… too much paperwork," was all Naruto said in response as he dug into his meal.

He had looked over most of the files concerning the usual patrols of Tsuchi no Kuni and the defences of Iwagakure itself but most of the information was rather vague, meaning he would have to do a bit of his own reconnaissance when he got there.

All he really knew about Iwa was that it was located in the mountains and possessed an impressive military power despite the losses it suffered in the third shinobi war, then there was the fact that he expected there to be some form of sensor barrier protecting the village, meaning he would need to have a Hyūga assisting him at least for the infiltration aspect of the mission, that would probably fall to Raida.

Beyond that he would have to be careful of patrols, which a Hyūga would also assist in helping him deal with.

Then there is of course the problem of food and water. The water would be easy enough to deal with given that there were apparently several small waterfalls in the mountain range that would give him a source of water, certainly it may not be the freshest but a ninja's digestive tract was usually more efficient than a civilians due to the over abundance of chakra in their body so he shouldn't have any problem with poor quality water.

Food however would be another matter entirely. Since Iwagakure lacks the commercialisation that Konoha has, buying food from the stores there would be next to impossible without alerting the shinobi populace to his teams existence and hunting wild animals was out of the question on the off chance that the corpse would be found by a patrol.

So what he needed was another member for his team that could leave the area and attain food from another source, most likely a nearby town. He would be out because he would need to watch the Tsuchikage and learn his habits before making his actual plan, while Raida would be too easily identified with his Byakugan. Using a henge would be possible however there was also the problem that they didn't know if there would be anyone there capable of detecting a henge and warning Iwa about such an event, so he would need a third teammate to procure provisions, someone specialised in keeping a low profile and not standing… in other words, someone like Mitsuki.

Sure he knew there were others with her specialisation in ANBU, however he felt more comfortable knowing she would have his back than he would with any of the other infiltration specialists.

Of course he would still have to do more before forming the specifics of his plan, such as learn all the information he could from the Iwa files, including shinobi of interest and what they were capable of so he knew not to get too close to them.

But the basics of his plan were ready, he just needed to familiarize himself with the rest of the information to make sure he wouldn't get lost, make mistakes because of the surroundings or anything else equally foolish.

At least now he was getting some ramen.

"And what sort of paperwork were you doing?" the brunette asked him with a smile, earning a sigh off the blond as he decided to use the typical excuse.

"There are just some potential suppliers out of town and I'm having to sort out the good from the crap," the whiskered child stated with a crooked grin, earning a nod of acceptance from what he considered his sister figure.

"I see, that sounds quite tiresome," she admitted as she rested her elbows on the worktop as she watched him eat his second bowl of noodles. Honestly, ever since he'd quit the academy he had been eating out significantly less than before, instead tending to buy cheaper ingredients and cooking them at home. Ayame found herself missing his more frequent trips to the small stand, back when he was there every day she always got to hear his excited explanations about how his day had gone, even when the day hadn't been particularly good he usually talked about it in a way that made her smile… but now that was gone.

Now instead of talking away animatedly and eating at least five bowls of the noodles (occasionally a whole lot more when he could afford it), he was barely talking about his days at all and only eating one or two bowls due to financial constraints… and even when he did talk about his day, it was almost never about work.

She couldn't blame him though, he had given up on his dream of being a ninja because of some girl he had met and now she was certain he was feeling some form of regret at taking up a full time job instead of continuing with his shinobi career.

But she missed the old Naruto.

"It is, I mean, how am I supposed to know what a piece of second hand junk will sell for?" he asked rhetorically, sure he wasn't actually trying to buy and sell second hand junk for the store but that was a good enough excuse to use… plus he would probably end up stealing something from Tsuchi No Kuni on his way back just to add to the shop, after all, it did need to find junk somewhere and what better place than a village on enemy soil?

Ayame however just smiled at his small rant, happy that he was finally starting to talk more once again.

"Well maybe if you did your job properly you'd be able to tell," she decided to tease him, earning a deadpanned expression off the whiskered jinchūriki.

"Ayame-neechan, a second hand junk shop isn't like a first hand specialist, we have to guess about most of our stock," he told her calmly, earning another, even wider grin off the older girl.

"Is Naruto-chan trying to make excuses for his failings as a shopkeeper?" the ramen waitress decided to continue teasing, earning an exasperated sigh off the blond.

"No, just because it's hard doesn't mean I can't do it," he decided to declare, honestly he knew she was teasing him but it had been quite some time since he had spoken to in such a manner and had begun to forget how to respond to such blatant teasing… though thinking back on it, he wasn't exactly the best at dealing with teasing full stop… however he had learned a little bit of the art over the past few months, "and what of you?"

Ayame found herself blinking at his question before noticing that he gained a mischievous glint in his eye as he opened his mouth to say more.

"Surely someone that's worked in a ramen stand for so long should be more than capable of making it properly?" he started, making her expression darken before he continued, "I mean seriously, I've had instant ramen better than the stuff you make."

Sure it was a lie, the only ramen he had that was better than her was Teuchi's and well… he was THE master of making ramen as far as the whiskered blond was concerned, so being nowhere near his level of skill was nothing to be ashamed of… that didn't stop his sister figure from giving him a dark look.

"So you're saying that you'd rather have instant ramen than my cooking?" there was a definite edge to the brunettes voice as she vocalised her question, "so then why did you decide to stay when you found out I was cooking this batch?"

It may not be a particularly common occurrence but there were times when Teuchi needed to do something outside of attending the stand and when that happened, Ayame would take over for a few hours while he dealt with whatever it was he needed to do, this was one such occasion and as such, Naruto found himself eating her cooking instead of the old mans.

"Meh, bad food doesn't matter when I get to spend time with my neechan right?" he said with a beatific smile, knocking the girl out of her stride, he knew doing so would knock her out of her stride, after all, he was insulting her skill as a cook but at the same time, saying that he considered spending a little time with her worth the poor quality of food.

"Do you really think my ramen is that bad?" she finally decided to ask as her expression fell, honestly she was scared he wasn't joking about her batches being terrible… she couldn't see any of his old tells when he was lying but then again, it could've just been that she wasn't looking hard enough.

Naruto for his part managed to read the situation right, it appeared that he had lied a little too well in front of his sister figure and she thought he actually did dislike her food.

"Oh come on, you don't really think I was being serious do you?" he decided to ask with a raised eyebrow and a rhetorical tone of voice, making the brunette look up from her funk and give him a soft glare.

"So my ramen isn't bad?" she asked softly, earning a nod off the blond.

"You're ramen is good," he admitted with a firm nod.

"Better than my father's?" she tried to pry from him, earning a blank stare of the boy that was like a little brother to her.

"It's not that good," and immediately her face fell again, "but then again, Teuchi-ojisan makes the best ramen I've ever eaten," he decided to say without any preamble, "if you ever beat him then you'll become _the_ Goddess of ramen."

And with that the brunette rose from her slouched position and once more used her elbows as a stand for her head.

"Goddess of Ramen huh? That's one hell of a title you're aiming at Ayame-chan," came a familiar voice from behind the blond, making Naruto smile while Ayame paled.

"Hey Mitsuki-chan, how're you doing?" he called out as he turned to greet the female operative. Since she wasn't working the past couple of days he hadn't seen her since his return to the village from his 'exam'.

"Fine, and how about you Ayame-chan?" the short haired ANBU asked in a seductive tone as the similar aged girl started to slowly back into the kitchen where she wouldn't have to deal with the actresses seduction attempts… then again, Naruto wasn't certain if Mitsuki was just doing it to pick on Ayame or if she actually was trying to seduce her.

Honestly he didn't even know which scenario he wanted to be true, as a male the thought of the two women 'having fun' with each other was probably one of his more vivid fantasies… and yet at the same time he felt incredibly guilty about thinking of his sister figure like that.

Why did he have to be so close to Ayame? If he hadn't been then there would be no guilt in his mind about thinking of her like that.

He let out a small sigh upon noticing that the waitress was no longer visible to him, most probably in the back and hiding from the troublesome girl that had joined his meal.

"Hey, Ayame-chan! Can I get a medium miso with beef strips!" his colleague called out, earning a subdued affirmation from his sister figure, "so how has work been these past few days?"

"I've been pretty busy, I finally got my permanent contract and now I'm having to deal with a whole lot of paperwork," he admitted, earning a nod off the more experienced ANBU who immediately understood what he was saying, that he finally had his codename and his first mission had been decided and he was now having to figure out how he should go about it.

"Yeah, paperwork always sucks," was her only response as she waited for her order to arrive. It wasn't a lie either, since 'paperwork' was only done to plan for missions, it meant that whoever was doing it would definitely be going on a mission of some kind.

And Black Ops missions were never fun or easy.

"Well, at least I'm getting some rest now," he finally acknowledged, earning a nod off his colleague, after all, spending time outside of ANBU HQ was always a pleasant experience for any operative… it was just that some got to spend more time outside than others.

He was one of the lucky ones that got to spend lots of time outside the underground complex.

"Uh… here's your order," Ayame said nervously as she placed the bowl of noodles in front of Naruto's workmate before scuttling back through the back.

"You know, I kinda wish you didn't terrify Ayame-neechan like that," the blond muttered with a blank glare levelled at his company, earning a shrug off the brunette as she started eating.

"It's not my fault she can't handle a little flirting," came the blunt reply, making the blond let out a sigh at her casual dismissal of his statement.

"The problem is, why do you keep flirting in the first place?" he deadpanned, earning an obviously fake look of innocence from the other ANBU… not that she was a bad actress or anything but the fact that she didn't even try to hide the fact she was just doing it for fun just made him sigh in defeat, "you know what, just forget it."

And so the pair proceeded to continue their meal in silence, no longer feeling the need to speak anymore, besides, the only thing they really had to speak about was not suitable for a public place like Ichiraku's. That was the problem with speaking with someone on such a regular basis when you didn't really do that much that could be talked about in public, you rarely had anything to say.

Not that either really cared too much about that, they didn't stick together because they were friends, they stayed together because they had both managed to find some form of comfort in the other.

To Mitsuki, Naruto was that one person that she could drop her mask around and pour her heart out to, he was her confident.

To Naruto, Mitsuki was that one person that he could talk with about any concerns he had without fear of rebuttal, she was his confident.

And that was exactly what both felt they needed, that one person that would listen, that would be there for them no matter how silly or trivial the matter was.

And that was why they didn't care if there was nothing to say at the moment… because when they were alone, they would confide in each other and that would be enough to slow the degradation of their souls.

XXX XXX XXX

Night soon came and with it, Naruto returned to his bed once more.

He knew he could've easily left a Kage Bunshin or two behind to look over the information he had been supplied about Iwagakure but if he was perfectly honest, he didn't trust that method for this.

Sure he could easily look over everything quickly and come up with a plan, however he doubted his ability to retain the necessary detail he needed if he used the jutsu, sure he may remember the act but that didn't change the fact that he wouldn't experience it, that he would receive several smaller pictures that he would have to stitch together to form the big picture, a big picture that may have gaps it shouldn't have if he looked over everything himself.

He knew he was being paranoid but in the end, that was all he really had now, paranoia, the mission, training and his colleagues.

He didn't care if he took longer to complete his preparations because of his decision to bypass his bunshin but in the end, there were only so many corners he was prepared to cut and this one was too important to risk cutting incorrectly.

And so he wouldn't cut it, he would do everything necessary to make sure this mission went off without a hitch, he would have to ensure that he killed the Tsuchikage before the man noticed his presence, he would have to deal with him in a way that showed no signs of foul play and on top of that, he had to make sure his comrades wouldn't be caught while he was observing his target.

All in all, he knew this mission would probably be the hardest he ever took and the results would change the political landscape whether he wanted it to or not… if it didn't then it wouldn't be a black operation.

There was no true paperwork, there was no evidence his mission had been ordered and if he was captured and unable to destroy his body, his existence would be denied.

This mission had too much riding on it and offered no reward, it was the worst possible mission a ninja could ever be asked to complete and yet… he would be doing it for the sake of Konoha.

This impossible mission, these terrifying circumstances and the knowledge of what may await the completion of the mission were all things that plagued his mind and made sleep elude him, not that he wasn't used to sleep deprivation, his state of worry had long since overridden his guilt that had previously made him unable to claim a truly good night's sleep since the day he was forced to make that choice.

Thankfully, he found that despite not getting particularly good sleep, the combination of his Uzumaki heritage and the Kyūbi sealed within him had allowed him to operate properly despite those issues.

That was another thing that had caught him off guard when it had happened, the revelation of his parents hadn't been given as some sort of one on one chat, there was no announcement or anything like that, instead he had been learning a bit more about the history of Konoha when he noticed something that had embedded itself into his mind.

That the Yondaime Hokage had married a women of the Uzumaki clan.

It had only been a suspicion when he read that information but Tenzō had confirmed it for him… he really was the son of the Yondaime.

If he had still been the way he had been when he first joined ANBU he would've been angry at that fact being hidden from him, he would've shouted to the world that he was the son of a Hokage, that he was one of the last known members of a clan considered on par with the Uchiha and Senju… and then he'd have had assassins sent after his head.

He knew how many villages hated his father, he knew that his father was one of those rare ninja that received a 'flee on sight' designation in the bingo book and for that reason, he understood why he had been kept in the dark.

He was now a member of ANBU and now he knew the value of secrets.

He knew just how much damage that information could cause if it ever got out.

And that was why he let it slide.

Secrets were what determined the course of a war and he had been tasked with fulfilling what would probably become a very large secret when it happened.

He would not fail.

For he was Mamushi.

He would be the greatest assassin to stalk the world.


End file.
